Here is why comparing the recent job data with past data is faulty and foolish

In January this year, some data on jobs from the Periodic Labour Force Survey conducted by National Sample Survey Office was leaked, which had created a big furore in the country. Based on the leaked incomplete data, several media houses and intellectuals had claimed that India’s unemployment rate for the year 2017-18 was at the highest level in 45 years. The employment and unemployment surveys conducted by the National Sample Survey till 2011-12 used the monthly per capita expenditure of the household in the selected villages/blocks as a basis for stratification of households. In the Periodic Labour Force Survey conducted for the year 2017-18, a decision was taken to use education levels as a criterion for stratification at the ultimate level.