India, Jan. 22 -- The recent statements by the Union labour minister Mansukh Mandaviya rightly suggest that the labour force participation rate is up and the unemployment rate is down based on data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS). He, however, goes on to conclude that the labour market is thriving in India, reflecting the economic dynamism generated by the growth process. Not just that, this tide of apparent job creation has managed to push the female labour force participation rate up since 2017-18, reversing the earlier downward trends.

Drawing this inference simply from the broad overall trends is puzzling because this period generally experienced a sustained slowdown starting around 2017, well before the pandemic. Growth...