Unemployment and Jobless Growth in India: Current Economic Issues and Policy Measures for Sustainable Employment Generation
Abstract
India’s economic growth over the last three decades has been impressive by many macroeconomic standards; however, this growth has not translated into adequate employment opportunities a disconnect popularly referred to as jobless growth. Despite a significant rise in GDP, the Indian labour market continues to struggle with persistent unemployment, underemployment, informality, and low quality of jobs. Youth unemployment, especially among educated and urban youth, remains higher than the national average, pointing to structural mismatches between labour supply and labour market demand. This paper uses secondary data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), Economic Survey reports, World Bank and ILO sources to analyse trends in unemployment, identify root causes, evaluate policy responses, and suggest targeted solutions for sustainable employment generation. The findings show that policies emphasizing skill development, labour-intensive growth, formalisation of employment, and gender inclusion are critical to addressing joblessness in India. Effective policy implementation, institutional coordination, and monitoring are indispensable for transforming growth into gainful jobs.
Citation
M. Satheesh Pandian and S. Karthikeyan. Unemployment and Jobless Growth in India: Current Economic Issues and Policy Measures for Sustainable Employment Generation, International Journal of Business and Economics Research (IJBER) e-ISSN: 2455-3921; 12.1 (2026): 47-55
License
© 2026 The Author(s). Published by Dr. BGR Publications. The authors retain copyright of this article. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited.
References
- International Labour Organization. (2015). Global employment trends 2015: Widening inequalities. Geneva: ILO.
- Kannan, K. P., & Raveendran, G. (2019). From jobless to job-led growth. Economic & Political Weekly, 54(44), 38–45.
- Mehrotra, S., Parida, J. K., Sinha, S., & Gandhi, A. (2021). Explaining employment trends in India: Structural transformation and labour market challenges. Economic and Political Weekly, 49(32), 49–57.
- World Bank. (2022). India development update: Navigating the recovery. Washington, DC: World Bank.
- Srivastava, R., & Bünder, A. (2022). Women’s employment in India: Trends, constraints and policy priorities. Journal of South Asian Development, 17(2), 181–206.
- Government of India. (2023). Economic Survey of India 2022–23. New Delhi: Ministry of Finance.
- Roy, S., & Ghosh, M. (2023). Employment policy effectiveness in India: A critical review. Journal of South Asian Development, 18(1), 65–88.
- Ganuthula, V. R., & Balaraman, K. K. (2025). Skill-based labour market polarisation in the age of artificial intelligence: Evidence from India. arXiv Preprint.
- Government of India. (2025). Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS). National Statistical Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
- Business Standard. (2025). India’s jobless rate rises in Q1 2025: PLFS data shows youth unemployment concern.
