India's youth unemployment rate among highest in world, says ex-CEA; Netizens call it ‘heights of propaganda'

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Also Read: Unemployment rate in India doubles among educated youth: Former CEA Kaushik Basu says, ‘Change is coming’Dr Basu took to microblogging platform ‘X’ and said, ‘’Latest data from India’s CMIE shows India’s youth unemployment rate has reached the alarming level of 45.4 per cent—among the highest in the world. This is doing deep damage. For the sake of the country we must not hide behind slogans, must put politics aside & take corrective measures.''The ex-CEA, who now teaches economics at Cornell University, stated that the rising unemployment is doing ‘’deep damage''.

Basu's post attracted a flurry of comments by social media users including professionals and economists who contested the data and asked the economist to 'stop misleading'.A senior technocrat and software engineer, cited the same data and said 45 per cent unemployment is for the age group of 20-24. "And for age 30 and above, it's only two per cent. As per the same report you are quoting.

Heights of propaganda."Also Read: Unemployment crisis: 83% of jobless Indians are youth, says International Labour Organisation ReportSwathi Bellam, another social media user, said unemployment is 45 per cent for the 20-24 age group where most of the people are still studying. "It is a mere two per cent for above 30. So it means after education, most of them get a job," said BellamPadmaja, another user, asked Basu to "stop misleading by publishing half-truths".

"You are positioning it as if 45.4 per cent of all youth are unemployed. There is a huge difference. Stop this!".‘’The unemployment rate witnessed a sharp decrease in January 2024.