Though India is one of the world’s fastest growing country, the benefit of the high GDP growth reaching the population is debatable. Acceleration of employment generation comes with high economic growth. But studies show that in case of India, despite having high GDP growth, unemployment prevails. Unemployment has social and economic consequences. This makes it important that unemployment levels are reduced. The dynamics of unemployment-employment situation changes with time. The policies and programs implemented by government aims at reducing the unemployment levels. The success of such interventions can be seen in the estimates of unemployment rate. The present study aims to analyse the trends and patterns of unemployment in India during the period 1971 to 2019. It brings out key takeaways related to the employment-unemployment situation in India. The estimates help in understanding characteristics of labour market and several aspects like gender gap, educated unemployment, rural-urban unemployment and deficits in decent employment. Study shows that the labour market is characterised by high urban unemployment, youth unemployment, educated unemployment, dominance of agricultural sector in employment share, lack of coverage in social security benefits, gender discrimination in labour market and high informalisation. These areas require more focus. Also, data shows that the growth achieved by the country is not inclusive in nature.

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Keywords: Unemployment, India, Labour Market, Educated Unemployment.