India's Job Market Struggles with Soaring Unemployment, Falling Wages, and Shift to Low Quality Work

• Unemployment rate climbed to 6.1% in 2017-18, highest in 45 years, and further rose to 20.8% during pandemic before dropping to 3.2% in 2022-23 • Share of workforce engaged in low quality self-employment jobs has increased from 49.5% in 2013-14 to 57.3% in 2022-23 • Jobs in manufacturing sector halved between 2016 and 2021 despite government initiatives like Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat • Share of workforce employed in construction sector increased from 10.6% in 2011-12 to 13% in 2022-23, indicating shift to low quality jobs • Between 2014-15 and 2021-22, inflation-adjusted wages of India's workforce rose less than 1%