Unemployment Rate Falls from 6% to 3.2% in Six Years, Says FM Nirmala Sitharaman in Lok Sabha

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her address to the Lok Sabha on Tuesday, announced that the unemployment rate has dropped from 6 percent in 2017-18 to 3.2 percent at present, highlighting a notable improvement in employment figures.

Unemployment rate comes down from 6 per cent in 2017-18 to 3.2 per cent now: FM Sitharaman in Lok Sabha

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 17, 2024

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in her address to the Lok Sabha, highlighted India's strong economic performance, stating the government's success in controlling inflation, sustaining GDP growth, and strengthening resilience in the manufacturing sector.

There is no generalised slowdown in manufacturing, half of the manufacturing sectors still showing strong growth: Sitharaman in Lok Sabha

Retail inflation in April-October 2024-25 at 4.8 per cent, lowest since Covid pandemic: Sitharaman in Lok Sabha

Inflation is better… pic.twitter.com/EBOVOhDN0I

— Press Trust of India (@PTI_News) December 17, 2024

There is no widespread slowdown in the manufacturing sector, with half of the sectors still showing strong growth. She also highlighted that retail inflation for the period of April-October 2024-25 stood at 4.8 percent, the lowest since the COVID-19 pandemic. Sitharaman further emphasized that inflation has been better controlled under the NDA regime, in contrast to the UPA government, when it had surged to double digits, she said further.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman stated that the 5.4 percent growth in the second quarter was slower than anticipated, acknowledging that Q2 has been a challenging period for India. However, she said that India’s GDP growth rate has averaged 8.3 percent over the past three years, reflecting steady and sustained growth. She reassured that the dip in the second quarter is a temporary setback, and the economy is expected to experience healthy growth in the upcoming quarters.