New Delhi, Jan 1 (IANS): Unemployment almost doubled in India's most populous state, Uttar Pradesh (UP), during the last year compared to 2018 according to the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) data.

The average unemployment in UP grew from 5.91 per cent in 2018 to 9.95 per cent during the last year. According to 2011 census, UP is home to nearly 20 crore people, which is over 16 per cent of India's population.

Unemployment rate of 10 per cent means that nearly 10 in every 100 persons are unemployed.

The unemployment numbers were higher than the national average of 7.7 owing to a marked decline in economic activity in the country. India's GDP growth rate has crashed by more than 2 per cent in just one year.

Joblessness was also on the rise in the top most populous states in the country. In Maharashtra, the second most populous state, unemployment in 2019 rose to 4.87 per cent from 3.81 in 2018.

Unemployment in Bihar rose sharply to 11.47 per cent from 7.84 per cent in 2018, CMIE data showed. The fifth most populous state, Andhra Pradesh saw a marginal rise in unemployment at 4.71 per cent in 2019 from 4.6 in 2018.

However, in West Bengal, the joblessness figures declined to 6.36 per cent in 2019 from 7.05 per cent a year back.

Experts from across the board have expressed concern about the slowing Indian economy. Former Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Arvind Subramanian went on claim that the Indian economy is facing a "Great Slowdown".