New Delhi, Feb 9 (PTI) The unemployment rate for the youth in the country has reduced to 12.9 per cent in 2020-21, from 17.8 per cent in 2017-18, Parliament was informed on Thursday.

The official data on employment and unemployment is collected through Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) which is conducted by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation since 2017-18, Minister of State for Labour and Employment Rameswar Teli said in a written reply to Rajya Sabha.

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The survey period is July to June of next year. As per the latest available annual PLFS reports, the estimated unemployment rate on usual status for persons aged 15 years and above was 6 per cent, 5.8 per cent, 4.8 per cent, and 4.2 per cent during 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21, respectively, he said.

"This shows that unemployment rate in the country has declined," Teli said.

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The estimated unemployment rate on usual status for youth ages 15-29 years was 17.8 per cent, 17.3 per cent, 15 per cent and 12.9 per cent during years 2017-18, 2018-19, 2019-20 and 2020-21, respectively, which shows that unemployment rate for youth in the country has declined, the minister added.

Besides several job generating initiatives, the government is also undertaking various programmes such as Make in India, Start-up India, Stand-up India, Digital India, Housing for All etc. towards generating employment opportunities.

All these initiatives are expected to collectively generate employment in the medium to long term through multiplier effects, Teli said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)