West Bengal's unemployment rate at 6.5 % in June 'far better' than that of India: Mamata Banerjee

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Saturday said that the unemployment rate in the state stood at 6.5 per cent in June this year, which was "far better" than that of the country at 11 per cent.

The firebrand Trinamool Congress leader was referring to a report of the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

Explaining reasons why West Bengal’s rate of unemployment was better than that of the country, the Chief Minister said that it was due to the economic strategy adopted by her government to tackle the COVID-19 crisis and the devastation caused by Cyclone Amphan.

"We've implemented a robust economic strategy to tackle COVID19 and the devastation caused by Amphan. Proof lies in West Bengal's unemployment rate for the month of June 2020 which stands at 6.5 per cent, far better than that of India at 11 per cent, UP at 9.6 per cent and Haryana at 33.6 per cent, as per CMIE," Banerjee said in a tweet.

We've implemented a robust economic strategy to tackle #COVID19 & the devastation caused by Amphan. Proof lies in West Bengal's Unemployment Rate for the month of June 2020 which stands at 6.5%, far better than that of India at 11%, UP at 9.6% & Haryana at 33.6%, as per CMIE.

— Mamata Banerjee (@MamataOfficial) July 4, 2020

According to data released by the CMIE on Wednesday, the country's unemployment rate fell to 11 per cent in June from 23.5 per cent in May, as economic activities resumed after the lockdown restrictions were eased. 

According to the data, the unemployment rate in urban areas for the month of June stood at 12.02 per cent, while that in rural areas was recorded at 10.52 per cent. The number of employed people in the country in June stood at 37.3 crore, as per the CMIE data, while those looking for jobs are 46.1 crore. 

Haryana has the highest unemployment rate of 33.6 per cent, followed by Tripura at 21.3 per cent and Jharkhand at 21 per cent.

"The unemployment rate has declined and simultaneously, the participation rate has recovered to close-to pre-lockdown period," CMIE Managing Director and CEO Mahesh Vyas said in a release.

Vyas said the reason behind the improvement in the unemployment rate across rural India can be explained by the rise in MGNREGA spending by the government and the increase in Kharif sowing.

In April, the first month of coronavirus-induced nationwide lockdown, CMIE had said that the unemployment rate in the country spiked to an all-time high of 27.1 per cent.