 According to latest estimates by the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, 1.3 crore people lost jobs in just June this year. In May the number of employed persons was 40.4 crore which dropped to just 39.1 crore by June end. As can be seen on this chart, employment has been hovering around the 40 crore mark for the past year, but the nose-dive last month has exposed the extreme vulnerability of India's working population. What does this really mean? An employment level of 39 crore means that only about 36% of the working age populations is actually employed in India. This stares apart the lofty talk of the advantages of a young working population for India and reveals the dire and distressful situation of the Indian people. What makes the situation more worrisome is that along with growing job loss, the labour participation rate or LPR in the country has seen a downward shift. The LPR which refers to the share of people who are working or willing and seeking work has dropped from 39.91% in May to a low of 38.3% in June. This is the lowest LPR since the first lockdown back in April May 2020. A reduced LPR along with growing job loss means that not only have people lost jobs but that they have lost all hope. These hopeless and frustrated people have quit the labour force altogether, preferring to perhaps wait it out till jobs become available again. Another measure of the job situation is the unemployment rate, which measures the number of unemployed persons as a percentage of the total number of persons in the labour force. This has risen from 7.1% in May to 7.8% in June. What are the reasons for this dismal state of affairs? The delayed onset of monsoon in June this year is mainly responsible for the low number of employed persons and also for the low LPR. Usually the sowing of kharif crops starts in June with the arrival of monsoon rains. This is labour intensive work with lakhs of agricultural labourers including women out in the fields. However, the crucial monsoon rains were delayed this year and rains properly began only by the last week of June. This meant that the army of agricultural labourers was forced into idleness through most of June causing a sharp increase in unemployment, a drop in LPR and a decline in the number of jobs. Agricultural labourers and small or marginal farmers are the most vulnerable section of Indian society and also the largest in number. The large scale unemployment in these sections will not only cause huge distress among the poorest families but will also mean that a substantial chunk of the population will have no money in its hands. This will further depress the languishing demand and thus perpetuate the low level of economic activity that is already haunting our economy. It is probable that with the arrival of a full-fledged monsoon in most parts of the country by the end of June joblessness will decline somewhat. But what this chain of events highlights is the extreme dependence of India on the monsoon and the vulnerability that it brings. Even a delayed onset can mean a tremendous and large-scale impact on lakhs of families. This is not a sign of an advancing economy and definitely not a feature of an aspiring economic superpower. That being said, agriculture was not the only sector that suffered. CMI estimates that job losses in June also include the loss of 25 lakh salary jobs. Unlike in the case of agriculture this could not have much to do with the delayed onset of monsoon. It is known that the industrial sector is the biggest potential source of jobs for agriculture's plate peasants and agricultural labour. With this sector still growing very slowly or just stagnating, those displaced by job loss in agriculture have no alternative now. Additionally, with demand stagnating, industry has no prospects of increasing productive capacities and thus giving employment to new members of the workforce. What is the government doing to help? At a time when focus should be on resolving existing problems, the Modi government is adopting policies that heighten the job crisis. It is trying to implement labour codes that will increase contractual work with easy hire and fire leading to more instability of employment. It is applying fund squeeze to various job related schemes that provide some relief to jobless people. It has reduced the prospects of secure employment in the armed forces by announcing its partial contractualization through the controversial Agni Pad scheme. Its reliance on the so-called new economy, jobs like startups and gig workers is also not reaping results in recent times with large scale job shedding. To cover up their failures and appease the public, the government announced that 10 lakh government vacancies will be filled up. Although the modus operandi for this filling up has still not been announced, in all probability it will be through outsourced means at low pay scales and therefore will not be of much help. Needless to say, the prospects of any major jump in employment levels in the coming months are bleak and with a stagnating economy which is also in the grips of an inflationary spiral, the distress of people is likely to mount.