The United Nations International Labour Organisation (ILO) in its report titled '2017 World Employment and Social Outlook' has indicated that unemployment in India is likely to increase marginally in the financial year 2017-18, on the back of sluggishness in job creation in the country.
According to the report, unemployment in India is expected to increase from 17.7 million last year to 17.8 million in 2017 and 18 million in 2018. In proportion phrases, unemployment rate will stay at 3.4% in 2017-18. It said that the country had performed slightly well in terms of job creation in 2016, when a 'majority' of the 13.4 million new employment created in Southern Asia occurred within the nation. Similarly, the report acknowledged that India's 7.6% growth in 2016 helped Southern Asia achieve 6.8% growth that year. It added that manufacturing growth has supported India's recent economic performance, which may help buffer demand for the region's commodity exporters.
The report further highlighted that world unemployment levels and rates are likely to stay high in the short term, as the worldwide labour pressure continues to grow. The worldwide unemployment rate is anticipated to rise modestly to 5.8% in 2017 from 5.7% in 2016, representing 3.4 million more unemployed people globally. It added that the increase in unemployment levels and rates in 2017 will be driven by deteriorating labour market conditions in emerging countries as the impacts of several deep recessions in 2016 continue to affect labour markets in 2017. It also noted that the number of unemployed people in emerging countries is expected to increase by approximately 3.6 million between 2016 and 2017.