Rural unemployment has nearly doubled in a week as lockdowns and surging covid infections in villages brought economic activity to a halt. Rural unemployment shot up to 14.34% in the week ended 16 May from 7.29% in the week ended 9 May, data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) showed. Rural unemployment is at a 50-week high: the last time it was higher was nearly a year ago, in the week ended 7 June. “The MSMEs (micro, small and medium enterprises) are in bad shape, and the informal jobs market, as well as self-employment in rural India, are in turmoil. The situation may get worse over the next few weeks if we don’t manage to tackle the pandemic in rural India.

Source: Mint May 18, 2021 18:53 UTC