GDP growth dips to 6.8%, Unemployment climbs to 6.1%

New Delhi, May 31: GDP numbers for Financial Year 2018-2019 are out and the growth rate during the previous fiscal stood at 6.8 percent. The GDP growth rate for the fourth quarter of Financial Year 2018-2019 was 5.8 percent, according to Central Statistics Office data.

Compared to previous fiscal, GDP fell from 7.2 per cent in Financial Year 2017-18 to 6.8 per cent in FY 2018-19.

Reports have attributed the fall to poor performance in agriculture and manufacturing sectors.

Growth of eight core sectors slows to 2.6 Percent in April compared to 4.7 in same month last year, reports said on the basis of government data.

This means that India has lost its place as the world's fastest-growing major economy to China, which is currently on 6.4 percent growth, said reports.

In January-March 2018-2019 quarter, the GDP growth slowed down to hit below 6 per cent. In March quarter last year, Indian GDP grew at 8.1 per cent. This year, the growth rate slumped to 5.8 per cent, data from Central Statistics Office said.

Meanwhile, the data released by the labour ministry confirms unemployment rate projected in a pre-election leaked report. The government on Friday said joblessness in the country was 6.1 percent of total labour force during 2017-18, the highest in 45 years.

The data released by the labour ministry on a day when Modi 2.0 Cabinet took charge, showed 7.8 per cent of all employable urban youth being jobless, while the percentage for the rural was 5.3 per cent. The joblessness among male on all India basis was 6.2 per cent, while it was 5.7 per cent in case of females.