Unemployment Situation in India Due to Pandemic:
More than 20 Million people lost their jobs in tourism sector since Covid outbreak in India
Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy in an Interview said that around 21.5 million people, have lost their jobs involved in the tourism industry, due to the three waves of COVID-19 that first hit the India in early 2020.
Reddy said around 93 percent of tourist arrivals were down in the country during the first wave of COVID-19 outbreak, around 79 percent of tourist arrivals were down during the second wave and around 64 percent of tourist arrivals were down during the third wave.
In Lok Sabha during Question Hour Union Tourism Minister said, “We have conducted a study on the impact of the pandemic on tourism. As per the study, during the first wave 14.5 million people were unemployed, during the second wave 5.2 million people were unemployed and during the third wave 1.8 million people were unemployed.
Union Tourism Minister G Kishan Reddy also said that in the country before the pandemic the involvement of the people with the tourism industry were 38 million.
Reddy said during the three waves of Covid, the economy from tourism was significantly down, which hit this tourism sector badly not only in India but also across the globe.
He, however, said with the administering of 180 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines, the government was hopeful that there would be improvements in the tourism sector.
To help this sector, Reddy said, an interest-free loan of Rs10 lakh is given to travel and tourism stakeholders and up to Rs1 lakh to tourist guides.
“I appeal to all state governments to help the tourism sector in whatever way they can,” he said.
The minister said due to the pro-tourists initiatives of the government, India’s rank in global tourist destinations has gone up by about 20 positions from 52 in 2013 to 32 in 2019.
To encourage more international tourists, the government has already decided to waive the visa fee of the first five lakh arrivals, he said.
He said after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, till March 7, 2022, as many as 51,960 regular visas and 1.57 e-visas were given by India.
Replying to a question by National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, who said that there should be control over air fare as travelling has become costly, affecting tourism industry, Reddy said the government has deliberated upon the issue and has been giving subsidy to the airfares under the ‘Udan’ scheme to the airlines flying to tourist destinations.
The Speaker said in the recent past about 300 MPs have visited Jammu and Kashmir and it should be highlighted.
Farooq Abdullah also urged the minister to restart the Srinagar-Sharjah flight as early as possible.
Unemployment Situation in US Due to Pandemic:
In February, the unemployment rate edged down to 3.8 percent, and the number of unemployed persons edged down to 6.3 million. In February 2020, prior to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the unemployment rate was 3.5 percent, and the number of unemployed persons was 5.7 million
Among the major worker groups, the unemployment rates for adult men (3.5 percent) and Hispanics (4.4 percent) declined in February. The jobless rates for adult women (3.6 percent), teenagers (10.3 percent), Whites (3.3 percent), Blacks (6.6 percent), and Asians (3.1 percent) showed little or no change over the month.
Among the unemployed, the number of persons on temporary layoff, at 888,000 in February, was little changed over the month. The number of permanent job losers, at 1.6 million in February, also changed little. Both measures are higher than their February 2020 levels of 780,000 and 1.3 million, respectively.
In February, the number of persons jobless less than 5 weeks declined by 286,000 to 2.1 million. The number of long-term unemployed (those jobless for 27 weeks or more) was essentially unchanged at 1.7 million. This measure is 581,000 higher than in February 2020. The long-term unemployed accounted for 26.7 percent of the total unemployed in February 2022.
The labor force participation rate, at 62.3 percent in February, changed little over the month. The employment-population ratio edged up to 59.9 percent. Both measures remain below their February 2020 levels (63.4 percent and 61.2 percent, respectively).
The number of persons employed part time for economic reasons increased by 418,000 to 4.1 million in February but remains below its February 2020 level of 4.4 million. These individuals, who would have preferred full-time employment, were working part time because their hours had been reduced or they were unable to find full-time jobs.
The number of persons not in the labor force who currently want a job declined by 349,000 to 5.4 million in February. This measure is above its February 2020 level of 5.0 million. These individuals were not counted as unemployed because they were not actively looking for work during the 4 weeks preceding the survey or were unavailable to take a job.
Among those not in the labor force who wanted a job, the number of persons marginally attached to the labor force, at 1.5 million, changed little in February. These individuals wanted and were available for work and had looked for a job sometime in the prior 12 months but had not looked for work in the 4 weeks preceding the survey. The number of discouraged workers, a subset of the marginally attached who believed that no jobs were available for them, was little changed over the month at 391,000