Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran has said that employment conditions in the country have improved since the launch of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS). Briefing the media on the Economic Survey 2025-26 in New Delhi on Thursday, Mr Nageswaran said, the unemployment rate has declined from 6 per cent then to 3.2 per cent in 2023-24. He said that female labour force participation has increased by nearly 18 percentage points. The CEA said the unemployment rate in the first nine months of the year has steadily declined from 5.4 per cent to 4.9 per cent in the last quarter. He described India as an oasis of economic performance in the global scenario.
Mr Nageswaran said, if we look at recent years in comparison to the pre-COVID average, real GDP growth before COVID was 6.4 per cent and it was 6.5 per cent in Fiscal Year 2025 and this year it is projected at 7.4 per cent. He said, in real terms, gross fixed capital formation is expected to perform significantly better than in Fiscal Year 2025 and far better than during the 2012-2020 period, when growth averaged just 6.3 per cent per annum due to banking and corporate balance sheet stress. The Chief Economic Advisor said, in terms of other inclusive growth parameters, apart from macro indicators, in rural development, 81 per cent of rural households now have access to tap water, 2.9 crore houses have been constructed, and 2.76 crore property cards have been issued under the SVAMITVA scheme. He said, when it comes to healthcare, 14.3 crore beneficiaries have been registered on the U-WIN portal, 42.8 crore Ayushman Bharat cards have been issued, and over 1.8 lakh Ayushman Arogya Mandirs are operational. Mr Nageswaran said, states need to follow fiscal discipline to keep sovereign borrowing costs affordable.
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