A recent report from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation has painted a grim picture of Jammu Kashmir’s employment landscape, revealing that the region has the highest unemployment rates in the country.
The latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) shows that 32 percent of youth in the 18-29 age group are unemployed in urban areas of J&K, making it the highest unemployment rate in India for this demographic.
The data further highlights a concerning gender gap in the region’s job market. With a staggering 53.6 percent unemployment rate among women, J-K tops the country in female joblessness, which remains an urgent challenge for policymakers.
The survey, which covers the July-September period, also found that youth unemployment in the region is disturbingly high, though there was a slight improvement from the previous quarter.
The overall youth unemployment rate stands at 15.9 percent, a modest decrease from 16.8 percent.
On a national scale, 20 out of 22 states and Union Territories reported double-digit unemployment rates, with J&K and Odisha at the forefront.
While some industrialized states like Delhi recorded significantly lower unemployment rates, such as 4.3 percent for the same age group, J&K’s reliance on the public sector has hampered the growth of the private sector, resulting in limited job opportunities.
The Directorate of Employment (DoE) in J&K reports that in the first quarter of 2024, 3.52 lakh youth were officially registered as unemployed, with 1.09 lakh of them holding graduate or postgraduate degrees.
This group represents 31 percent of the total unemployed youth, underscoring the growing disparity between education levels and available job opportunities in the region.