80. Which factors explain the expansion of the gig economy in India:
(A) growth of online businesses,
(B) preference for working from home,
(C) project-specific consultancy hiring,
(D) growth in organised-sector jobs?
[UGC NET Economics – 30 June 2026]
(A) A, B and C only
(B) C and D only
(C) B only
(D) A and D only
Answer: (A) A, B and C only
Explanation: Online platforms create demand for flexible assignments, remote arrangements make independent work feasible, and firms often contract experts for individual projects. These three factors support gig work. A general increase in regular organised-sector employment does not directly explain its expansion.
79. What made India attractive for international outsourcing after the 1991 economic reforms?
[SSC Selection Post (Graduate) – 19 September 2026]
(A) Skilled labour and advanced infrastructure
(B) Lower wages combined with skilled workers
(C) Lower wages and a large domestic market
(D) Skilled labour and natural resources
Answer: (B) Lower wages combined with skilled workers
Explanation: Outsourcing firms seek suitably trained personnel at competitive costs. India developed a large English-speaking and technically qualified workforce whose wage costs were relatively lower than those in many advanced economies, strengthening its position in business-process and IT services.
78. Which Indian portal creates a national database of unorganised workers, including platform and gig workers?
[SSC Selection Post (Graduate) – 22 September 2026]
(A) Udyam Registration
(B) e-Shram
(C) National Career Service
(D) ASEEM
Answer: (B) e-Shram
Explanation: The Labour and Employment Ministry introduced e-Shram to register unorganised workers and facilitate access to social protection. Udyam primarily concerns enterprise registration; National Career Service supports job matching; ASEEM connects skilled people with possible employment opportunities.
77. In which year was the Startup India initiative launched?
[UP Police Sub-Inspector – 14 March 2026]
(A) 2018
(B) 2012
(C) 2016
(D) 2014
Answer: (C) 2016
Explanation: Startup India began on 16 January 2016 to strengthen entrepreneurship and innovation. Its framework includes simplified procedures, access to support and encouragement for new enterprises. The launch year differs from those of Skill India and Digital India, both initiated in 2015.
76. In the PLFS annual report for 2025, what was the usual-status unemployment rate for Indians aged 15–29?
[RRB Group D – 17 August 2026]
(A) 12.4%
(B) 7.9%
(C) 14.8%
(D) 9.9%
Answer: (D) 9.9%
Explanation: The cited PLFS report places youth unemployment under the usual-status measure at 9.9%. It is important not to confuse the youth rate with the all-age rate, or to mix usual-status estimates with current-weekly-status monthly survey figures.
75. Which authentication standard did an RBI framework specify for digital payment security from 1 April 2026?
[RRB Group D – 9 August 2026]
(A) OTP verification alone
(B) Single-factor password
(C) Two-factor authentication
(D) QR-code verification alone
Answer: (C) Two-factor authentication
Explanation: Two-factor authentication relies on two independent types of evidence, for example a possession factor and a knowledge factor. Using more than one credential reduces dependence on a compromised password or device. Payment rules should be interpreted alongside the applicable regulatory exceptions.
74. According to the PLFS comparison of January–March 2026 with October–December 2025, what happened to rural and urban unemployment?
[RRB Group D – 12 August 2026]
(A) Both rates rose
(B) Rural rose; urban edged down
(C) Rural fell; urban edged up
(D) Both rates were unchanged
Answer: (B) Rural rose; urban edged down
Explanation: The quarter-on-quarter comparison described rural unemployment rising and urban unemployment declining slightly. Rural and urban labour markets may respond differently to agricultural seasonality and nonfarm hiring. The reference quarters must be retained when interpreting a survey-based comparison.
73. When vegetable vendors sell farm produce directly to households, which sector covers the selling activity?
[SSC MTS – 18 February 2026]
(A) Primary
(B) Secondary
(C) Tertiary
(D) Quinary
Answer: (C) Tertiary
Explanation: Cultivating produce is a primary-sector activity, but retailing it is a service. Traders distribute goods to consumers without themselves growing or manufacturing them. Therefore the sales activity falls under the tertiary sector, even though the item sold originated in agriculture.
72. What challenge was the Rural Prosperity and Resilience programme announced in Union Budget 2025–26 intended to address?
[RRB Group D – 10 February 2026]
(A) School dropout rates
(B) Agricultural underemployment
(C) Lack of rural sports facilities
(D) Problems of rural administration
Answer: (B) Agricultural underemployment
Explanation: The programme addresses weak employment intensity and limited earning opportunities in rural agriculture. By diversifying livelihoods and improving agricultural productivity, it seeks to raise rural incomes. Underemployment means people may work but cannot obtain enough productive work or earnings.
71. What was India’s overall unemployment rate in May 2025 in the monthly PLFS figures referenced by the exam?
[RRB Group D – 3 February 2026]
(A) 5.1%
(B) 8.5%
(C) 5.6%
(D) 6.6%
Answer: (C) 5.6%
Explanation: The May 2025 monthly PLFS release recorded an overall unemployment rate of 5.6% for the relevant population and status measure. A monthly estimate should not be treated as interchangeable with an annual usual-status estimate because their reference periods differ.
70. Under the MGNREGA framework in force when this exam was held, how many days of wage employment were guaranteed annually to an eligible rural household?
[RRB NTPC UG – 18 August 2025]
(A) 150 days
(B) 50 days
(C) 100 days
(D) 200 days
Answer: (C) 100 days
Explanation: The original employment guarantee provided up to 100 days of demand-based unskilled manual employment for each eligible rural household in a financial year. The entitlement belonged to the household rather than to each individual adult member, a crucial distinction in such questions.
69. What national unemployment rate did the May 2025 PLFS monthly bulletin report?
[RRB Group D – 19 December 2025]
(A) 4.8%
(B) 5.1%
(C) 6.2%
(D) 5.6%
Answer: (D) 5.6%
Explanation: The monthly PLFS indicated 5.6% unemployment in May 2025. The rate is the unemployed share of the labour force, not the total population. Do not confuse the figure with the April 2025 rate or annual usual-status numbers.
68. Statements:
I. Consumers increasingly choose UPI over cash.
II. UPI is convenient and widely accepted.
What is the cause-and-effect relation?
[SSC CGL – 20 September 2025]
(A) I causes II
(B) II causes I
(C) Both are unrelated
(D) No meaningful relation can be drawn
Answer: (B) II causes I
Explanation: Widespread acceptance and easier transactions make a payment method more attractive, which can encourage its use instead of cash. Thus the second statement offers an explanation for the first. This is a cause-and-effect reasoning item based on digital payments.
67. Who presented the 2024–25 Digital Payments Award to India Post Payments Bank?
[SSC CPO – 11 December 2025]
(A) Nirmala Sitharaman and Pankaj Chaudhary
(B) Ashwini Vaishnaw and Bhagwat Karad
(C) Anupriya Patel and Rajeev Chandrasekhar
(D) Dharmendra Pradhan and Hardeep Singh Puri
Answer: (A) Nirmala Sitharaman and Pankaj Chaudhary
Explanation: The cited award event recognised efforts to increase the reach of electronic payments, including among underserved communities. India Post Payments Bank benefits from the postal network for financial access. This question asks for the ministers associated with the award presentation.
66. Which Indian bank launched 24×7 programmable US-dollar clearing through JPMorgan’s Kinexys platform in March 2025?
[RRB NTPC Graduate – 21 June 2025]
(A) State Bank of India
(B) Bandhan Bank
(C) Axis Bank
(D) Indian Bank
Answer: (C) Axis Bank
Explanation: Axis Bank introduced the programmable dollar-clearing capability through JPMorgan’s digital infrastructure. Such systems aim to accelerate cross-border settlement and automate payment instructions. It is a banking innovation question rather than a question about the central bank’s payment infrastructure.
65. Budget 2025 announced which provisions for gig workers: (I) e-Shram registration and (II) PM Jan Arogya Yojana healthcare support?
[SSC CHSL – 25 November 2025]
(A) I only
(B) II only
(C) Both I and II
(D) Neither
Answer: (C) Both I and II
Explanation: The budget announced registration and identity support for online platform workers through e-Shram, together with healthcare coverage under PM-JAY. These measures recognise workers engaged through digital platforms who may lack employee-style welfare benefits available in conventional formal employment.
64. Which labour legislation consolidates nine social-security laws and recognises gig and platform workers?
[RRB Group D – 22 December 2025]
(A) Code on Social Security, 2020
(B) Occupational Safety Code, 2020
(C) Code on Wages, 2019
(D) Industrial Relations Code, 2020
Answer: (A) Code on Social Security, 2020
Explanation: The Social Security Code consolidates legislation relating to provident funds, pensions and other social protection arrangements. Its provisions also define categories such as gig and platform workers. Wage fixation and industrial relations are addressed by different labour codes.
63. How large did NITI Aayog project India’s gig workforce to be by 2029–30?
[RRB NTPC Graduate – 13 June 2025]
(A) 50 million
(B) 23.5 million
(C) 45 million
(D) 35 million
Answer: (B) 23.5 million
Explanation: NITI Aayog’s 2022 policy analysis projected roughly 23.5 million gig workers by 2029–30. The estimate was much higher than the workforce measured for 2020–21, reflecting projected expansion in platform-mediated delivery, transport and other flexible assignments.
62. Banking, communications and transportation belong primarily to which economic sector?
[RRB NTPC UG – 20 August 2025]
(A) Quaternary
(B) Secondary
(C) Primary
(D) Tertiary
Answer: (D) Tertiary
Explanation: Banking supplies financial services, communications transmit information, and transportation moves people or goods. These are service activities rather than raw-material extraction or physical manufacturing. They therefore fall mainly within the broad tertiary sector in standard three-sector classification.
61. Which activity is included in the tertiary sector of the Indian economy?
[SSC GD – 4 February 2025]
(A) Forestry
(B) Manufacturing
(C) Agriculture
(D) Public administration
Answer: (D) Public administration
Explanation: Public administration supplies collective services, public regulation and government management rather than extracting natural resources or producing manufactured goods. Consequently it is classified under services. Forestry and agriculture belong to the primary sector, while manufacturing belongs to the secondary sector.
60. Which organisation issued the October 2025 study on GVA trends and state-level differences in India’s services sector?
[RRB Group D – 23 December 2025]
(A) Reserve Bank of India
(B) Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
(C) Ministry of Finance
(D) NITI Aayog
Answer: (D) NITI Aayog
Explanation: NITI Aayog issued the cited analytical study of the services sector. Its emphasis on state-level differences highlights how activities such as financial services, trade and information technology vary across regions, even while services form a substantial component of national output.
59. In recent years, which sector has contributed the largest share to India’s GDP?
[UPPSC LT Grade Teacher – 6 December 2025]
(A) Large-scale industries
(B) Services
(C) Small and cottage industries
(D) Agriculture
Answer: (B) Services
Explanation: Services are the largest broad contributor to India’s national output, encompassing trade, finance, transport, communications and professional activities. Employment shares are different from output shares; the primary sector can employ many people despite producing a smaller share of value added.
58. Tourism falls under which broad category of economic activity?
[RRB NTPC UG – 29 August 2025]
(A) Secondary
(B) Tertiary
(C) Quinary
(D) Primary
Answer: (B) Tertiary
Explanation: Travel planning, hotels, guiding, transport and related hospitality provide services to visitors. Their output is the delivery of an experience or assistance rather than the extraction of resources or production of physical merchandise. Tourism therefore belongs to the tertiary economy.
57. Which other name is commonly used for tertiary economic activities?
[RRB NTPC UG – 9 September 2025]
(A) Service sector
(B) Health sector alone
(C) Industrial sector
(D) Agricultural sector
Answer: (A) Service sector
Explanation: Tertiary activities supply services used by households and businesses, including retailing, education, banking and transport. The term service sector covers this range. It is broader than healthcare alone and distinct from primary extraction and secondary manufacturing activities.
56. Which sequence best represents the broad historical transition in sectoral economic importance?
[RRB NTPC Graduate – 16 June 2025]
(A) Tertiary → Primary → Secondary
(B) Primary → Secondary → Tertiary
(C) Secondary → Primary → Tertiary
(D) Tertiary → Secondary → Primary
Answer: (B) Primary → Secondary → Tertiary
Explanation: A common structural-transformation model traces development from agriculture to industry and then towards services. India’s own path has been more service-led than that simple sequence suggests, but the conventional ordering of primary, secondary and tertiary sectors is the exam answer.
55. Which of these occupations is an example of a tertiary-sector activity?
[RRB NTPC UG – 14 August 2025]
(A) Manufacturing
(B) Mining
(C) Teaching
(D) Farming
Answer: (C) Teaching
Explanation: Teaching provides educational services and human-capital formation. Unlike mining or farming it does not primarily extract resources, and unlike manufacturing it does not principally transform physical inputs into goods. Educational institutions therefore operate within the tertiary or service sector.
54. Which of these activities is part of the services sector?
[RPF Constable – 12 March 2025]
(A) Banking
(B) Mining
(C) Farming
(D) Construction
Answer: (A) Banking
Explanation: Banking provides deposit, lending, payment and other financial services. Mining and farming extract or grow primary products, while construction builds physical structures and is generally placed within industry. Banking consequently belongs to the tertiary sector.
53. Education, health services and banking all fall under which broad sector?
[RPF Constable – 3 March 2025]
(A) Secondary
(B) Quaternary
(C) Tertiary
(D) Primary
Answer: (C) Tertiary
Explanation: These activities deliver expertise or services to people rather than manufacturing goods. Education develops skills, healthcare treats patients and banking intermediates finance. The three-sector framework groups all these under tertiary activity, even if specialised classifications subdivide knowledge-intensive services further.
52. What are the three major activity-based sectors used to classify the Indian economy?
[RPF Constable – 5 March 2025]
(A) Primary, secondary and tertiary
(B) Farming, manufacturing and trade
(C) Agriculture, industry and services
(D) Agriculture, finance and technology
Answer: (A) Primary, secondary and tertiary
Explanation: The standard activity classification names the sectors primary, secondary and tertiary. Agriculture, industry and services are broad descriptions of them, but the formal three-sector terminology is the set listed in the first option. The classification is based on production functions.
51. HDFC Bank’s GIGA offering launched in 2024 was designed especially for whom?
[RPF Constable – 3 March 2025]
(A) Gig workers and freelancers
(B) Corporate salaried staff
(C) Small farmers
(D) Merit-scholarship students
Answer: (A) Gig workers and freelancers
Explanation: The GIGA suite was created for gig workers and freelancers, who often receive variable income and need flexible banking products. The move illustrates how conventional financial institutions are adapting credit and account services to platform-mediated and independent forms of employment.
50. Which sector ordinarily dominates GDP at higher stages of economic development?
[SSC GD – 10 February 2025]
(A) Foreign sector
(B) Agriculture
(C) Services
(D) Industry
Answer: (C) Services
Explanation: With higher incomes, demand for professional, health, educational, financial and leisure services generally rises. Productivity growth also changes the employment mix. This structural transformation makes services the largest broad output category in most high-income economies.
49. What all-India unemployment rate did the PLFS give for January–December 2024?
[RRB NTPC Graduate – 12 June 2025]
(A) 2.1%
(B) 3.2%
(C) 16.5%
(D) 5.6%
Answer: (B) 3.2%
Explanation: The annual PLFS estimate referenced in the exam was 3.2%. This annual measure should be distinguished from monthly figures gathered by later high-frequency surveys. Matching the precise reporting period is essential before comparing unemployment rates.
48. In which month and year was the Startup India programme introduced?
[UK Police Constable – 3 August 2025]
(A) February 2017
(B) January 2016
(C) March 2018
(D) April 2016
Answer: (B) January 2016
Explanation: Startup India was inaugurated in January 2016 with the objective of encouraging enterprise formation and innovation. Its support ecosystem brings together entrepreneurship facilitation, recognition and incentives. The initiative should not be confused with the Skill India campaign launched during 2015.
47. What does the acronym MGNREGA expand to?
[SSC CPO – 12 December 2025]
(A) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Generation Act
(B) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
(C) Mahatma Gandhi National Regulated Employment Generation Act
(D) Mahatma Gandhi National Regulated Employment Guarantee Act
Answer: (B) Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
Explanation: The name identifies a statutory employment guarantee rather than a general employment-generation scheme. The original 2005 legislation made provision for wage employment for eligible rural households, with implementation through public works and decentralised local institutions.
46. Which Indian initiative is specifically designed to support entrepreneurship, innovation and startup businesses?
[SSC Selection Post (Graduate) – 2 August 2025]
(A) Digital India
(B) Startup India
(C) Skill India Mission
(D) Atal Innovation Mission
Answer: (B) Startup India
Explanation: Startup India seeks to establish an enabling ecosystem for entrepreneurs and young companies through simplified compliance and other support. Digital India emphasises digital infrastructure and service delivery, while Skill India focuses on training and employability.
45. Which sector saw the greatest increase in its relative contribution to India’s national income in recent decades?
[UPHESC Assistant Professor (Economics) – 2025]
(A) Foreign trade
(B) Manufacturing
(C) Services
(D) Agriculture
Answer: (C) Services
Explanation: India has experienced particularly strong growth in services, including information technology, financial intermediation and business services. Its production structure now relies more heavily on these activities than earlier agrarian output patterns, although agriculture remains vital for livelihood support.
44. What is the primary objective of Skill India Mission?
[OSSSC Combined Recruitment – 13 October 2025]
(A) Promote robotics alone
(B) Equip young people with employable skills
(C) Expand government-sector vacancies
(D) Provide only elementary education
Answer: (B) Equip young people with employable skills
Explanation: Skill India prioritises vocational capabilities linked to the labour market, helping people become employable in varied industries. Its training-oriented approach is distinct from simply creating government vacancies or expanding general schooling. The initiative began in 2015.
43. What was the reported all-India unemployment rate for April 2025 in the monthly PLFS?
[RRB Group D – 22 December 2025]
(A) 5.6%
(B) 6.4%
(C) 4.9%
(D) 5.1%
Answer: (D) 5.1%
Explanation: The first monthly PLFS release for April 2025 reported an overall unemployment rate of 5.1%. This number is specific to that month and the survey’s current-weekly-status framework, so it should not be substituted for the May figure.
42. According to the cited PLFS results, what was the rural youth unemployment rate in May 2025?
[RRB Group D – 24 December 2025]
(A) 15.2%
(B) 10.5%
(C) 13.7%
(D) 17.9%
Answer: (C) 13.7%
Explanation: The referenced May 2025 estimate for rural people aged 15–29 was 13.7%. Unemployment among youth can differ considerably from rates for the full working-age population. Geographic coverage and age group both matter when interpreting labour statistics.
41. Which option was identified as the most appropriate cause of unemployment in India?
[SSC CGL – 12 September 2024]
(A) Overpopulation
(B) Environmental conditions
(C) High educational systems
(D) Shortage of labour supply
Answer: (A) Overpopulation
Explanation: When the number of job seekers grows faster than available opportunities, competition for jobs intensifies. Population pressure is one contributing factor, although skills, investment and demand also determine unemployment. The exam singled out overpopulation among the offered choices.
40. Workers in mountain tourism resorts lose their jobs in the off-season. What type of unemployment does this represent?
[SSC CGL – 11 September 2024]
(A) Seasonal
(B) Underemployment
(C) Disguised
(D) Cyclical
Answer: (A) Seasonal
Explanation: Tourist demand in mountain destinations changes sharply with weather and travel seasons. Workers may have jobs during peak months and none in the off-season. Such predictable periodic joblessness is seasonal unemployment, not a recession-wide cyclical phenomenon.
39. Which sector is especially associated with seasonal unemployment in India?
[SSC CGL – 26 September 2024]
(A) Agriculture
(B) Manufacturing
(C) Medical services
(D) Information technology
Answer: (A) Agriculture
Explanation: Agricultural tasks are concentrated in sowing, cultivation and harvesting periods. Farm labour demand therefore rises and falls through the year, potentially leaving workers without paid work in slack months. This pattern illustrates seasonal unemployment in the primary sector.
38. What is the empirical inverse relationship between wage inflation and unemployment commonly called?
[SSC CGL – 13 September 2024]
(A) Friedman model
(B) Keynesian model
(C) Baumol hypothesis
(D) Phillips curve
Answer: (D) Phillips curve
Explanation: The Phillips curve was originally estimated as a relationship between unemployment and changes in money wages. Lower unemployment can coincide with faster wage growth, though inflation expectations and supply shocks complicate any simple policy trade-off, especially over long periods.
37. Which of the following was described as important for modernisation and general prosperity?
[SSC CHSL – 1 July 2024]
(A) Stable exports
(B) Stable unemployment
(C) Stable employment
(D) Stable imports
Answer: (C) Stable employment
Explanation: Secure employment provides households with reliable incomes and supports consumption, saving and human-capital development. It also makes it easier for workers to gain experience and invest in skills. The exam therefore identified stable employment as the relevant economic foundation.
36. Which NPCI-linked digital payment instrument, introduced in 2021, was developed with the health and finance authorities?
[SSC CHSL – 3 July 2024]
(A) Dhani
(B) MobiKwik
(C) YONO
(D) e-RUPI
Answer: (D) e-RUPI
Explanation: e-RUPI is a purpose-specific prepaid digital voucher system designed for cashless, contactless payments. It can help deliver benefits to intended users without requiring a conventional card or app-based payment account for each transaction. Its initial launch was in 2021.
35. Which sector employed the largest proportion of urban Indian workers in 2019–20?
[SSC MTS – 15 October 2024]
(A) Agriculture
(B) Industry
(C) Services
(D) Mining
Answer: (C) Services
Explanation: Urban labour markets contain substantial retail, trade, transport, education, healthcare, finance and other services employment. Hence services formed the largest workforce share among the sectors given. Urban employment composition is not the same as the countrywide occupational distribution.
34. What is unemployment called when a worker is nominally employed but adds no output at the margin?
[SSC MTS – 30 October 2024]
(A) Seasonal unemployment
(B) Educated unemployment
(C) Disguised unemployment
(D) Urban unemployment
Answer: (C) Disguised unemployment
Explanation: Disguised unemployment exists when surplus workers share a task that requires fewer people. Removing some of these workers would not appreciably reduce production. It often appears in family farms and small informal activities, where workers lack alternative full-time employment.
33. ATM operations are classified under which sector of economic activity?
[SSC GD – 28 February 2024]
(A) Primary
(B) Quaternary
(C) Tertiary
(D) Secondary
Answer: (C) Tertiary
Explanation: Automated teller machines are part of financial-service delivery, allowing customers to access cash and basic account functions. Operating banking infrastructure constitutes a service rather than agriculture or industrial production. Thus ATM facilities belong broadly to the tertiary sector.
32. At an advanced level of development, which sector typically accounts for a lower fraction of GDP?
[SSC CPO – 28 June 2024]
(A) Services
(B) Services and agriculture equally
(C) Industry
(D) Agriculture
Answer: (D) Agriculture
Explanation: Higher productivity in farming allows fewer people to produce food for a larger population, while industry and services expand. Agriculture consequently tends to occupy a smaller share of output as economies develop, even though it remains important for food security.
31. Which of the following is an advantage of e-commerce?
[MPPSC State Service Prelims – 17 December 2023]
(A) Transactions can run around the clock
(B) Customer reach is necessarily limited
(C) Products cannot be personalised
(D) Operating costs must be higher
Answer: (A) Transactions can run around the clock
Explanation: An online storefront need not close at fixed business hours. E-commerce can therefore serve customers at any time and across locations. Delivery schedules and support services may still have time limits, but the digital ordering channel itself can operate continuously.
30. Unemployment arising from technological change or changed demand for particular products is what kind?
[UPSC CDS (I) – 16 April 2023]
(A) Frictional
(B) Structural
(C) Cyclical
(D) Disguised
Answer: (B) Structural
Explanation: Structural unemployment follows lasting shifts in production and skill requirements. Workers trained for declining technologies may not possess the abilities needed in expanding industries. Retraining and mobility can help address the mismatch, unlike cyclical unemployment caused mainly by short-term demand contraction.
29. Which of these broad sectors has historically generated the most employment in India?
[SSC CGL (Tier II AAO) – 27 October 2023]
(A) Manufacturing
(B) Primary
(C) Services
(D) Secondary
Answer: (B) Primary
Explanation: The primary sector, especially agriculture, has traditionally supported the largest number of Indian workers. This does not imply it contributes the largest share of GDP. Services may dominate value added while employing a relatively smaller proportion of the workforce.
28. Which activity belongs in the tertiary sector?
[SSC CHSL – 11 August 2023]
(A) Mining and quarrying
(B) Water supply infrastructure
(C) Electricity generation
(D) Hotels and restaurants
Answer: (D) Hotels and restaurants
Explanation: Hotels and restaurants supply lodging and food-service experiences to consumers. These belong to tertiary economic activity. Mining extracts natural resources, while electricity and water utilities are treated differently in industrial accounts; the clear services example here is hospitality.
27. Identify the activity that does not belong to the service sector.
[SSC CHSL – 7 August 2023]
(A) Hotels and restaurants
(B) Construction
(C) Banking and insurance
(D) Transport and communications
Answer: (B) Construction
Explanation: Construction is principally an industry producing built structures, making it part of the secondary sector. Hospitality, financial intermediation and transportation instead provide services to households and enterprises. The exam asks for the sole non-service activity in the list.
26. What term denotes the lowest sustainable unemployment level consistent with non-accelerating inflation?
[SSC MTS (2022 cycle) – 12 May 2023]
(A) Structural
(B) Disguised
(C) Natural
(D) Frictional
Answer: (C) Natural
Explanation: The natural rate captures frictional and structural unemployment that may persist even when aggregate demand is balanced. It is closely related to the non-accelerating inflation rate of unemployment, although estimates are uncertain and vary with labour-market institutions and technology.
25. Which formula calculates the unemployment rate?
[SSC MTS (2022 cycle) – 13 June 2023]
(A) Employed persons ÷ labour force × 100
(B) Unemployed persons ÷ labour force × 100
(C) Unemployed men ÷ labour force × 1,000
(D) Employed persons ÷ male labour force × 100
Answer: (B) Unemployed persons ÷ labour force × 100
Explanation: The denominator includes both employed and unemployed individuals participating in the labour force. People outside the labour force are excluded. Dividing the number unemployed by this total and multiplying by 100 gives the unemployment rate expressed as a percentage.
24. Which Rajasthan service subsector contributed the greatest share of service-sector GSVA at current prices in 2022–23?
[Rajasthan RAS Prelims – 2023]
(A) Transport, storage and communications
(B) Trade, hotels and restaurants
(C) Real estate, dwellings and professional services
(D) Financial services
Answer: (B) Trade, hotels and restaurants
Explanation: In Rajasthan’s 2022–23 service-sector composition, trade, hotels and restaurants had the largest share among the listed categories. This reflects commercial and tourism-related activity in the state. The question concerns contributions within services, not across the entire state economy.
23. Skill India was introduced in which year as a national skill-training initiative?
[SSC GD (2022 cycle) – 23 January 2023]
(A) 2017
(B) 2015
(C) 2010
(D) 2012
Answer: (B) 2015
Explanation: Skill India began in 2015 to improve workforce capabilities and industry-linked employability. The initiative seeks to connect training and certification with labour-market needs. It should be distinguished from Startup India, launched in January 2016 to support entrepreneurship.
22. High-level work that creates, reorganises and interprets knowledge and ideas is described as which type of activity?
[UPSC NDA (II) GAT – 4 September 2022]
(A) Quaternary
(B) Quinary
(C) Tertiary
(D) Secondary
Answer: (B) Quinary
Explanation: Quinary activities refer to senior decision-making and advanced intellectual functions, including top-level policy and leadership. Quaternary activities usually emphasise information processing and specialised knowledge services. The question focuses on creation and interpretation of ideas at a higher decision-making level.
21. Which is not generally counted as an advantage of e-commerce?
[SSC CGL – 2 December 2022]
(A) Cost efficiency
(B) Delayed responses to customer needs
(C) A wider choice
(D) Improved customer service
Answer: (B) Delayed responses to customer needs
Explanation: E-commerce can reduce search costs and extend product choice and customer access. Prompt digital response is usually a strength, not a disadvantage. A delay in responding to customer requirements undermines service quality, so it cannot be listed among the benefits.
20. What type of unemployment is caused by a mismatch between available jobs and workers’ skills?
[SSC CGL – 3 December 2022]
(A) Seasonal
(B) Structural
(C) Economic
(D) Frictional
Answer: (B) Structural
Explanation: Structural unemployment arises when labour skills or locations fail to match vacancies, often following technological or industrial change. Frictional joblessness instead occurs during ordinary transitions between positions, and seasonal joblessness reflects predictable fluctuations in work during a year.
19. Unemployment associated with the expansion and contraction of the business cycle is called what?
[SSC CGL – 9 December 2022]
(A) Frictional
(B) Cyclical
(C) Structural
(D) Technological
Answer: (B) Cyclical
Explanation: Economic recessions reduce demand for goods and services, leading firms to cut hiring or employment. Joblessness caused by such economy-wide changes is cyclical unemployment. It differs from persistent skill mismatches and from the short transitions that generate frictional unemployment.
18. Which of the following is not a conventional official source of unemployment data in India?
[RRB Group D – 30 September 2022]
(A) National Sample Survey reports
(B) National Family Health Survey reports
(C) Census reports
(D) Directorate General of Employment reports
Answer: (B) National Family Health Survey reports
Explanation: The National Family Health Survey concentrates on health, nutrition and related demographic indicators. Employment statistics are collected through dedicated labour surveys, census enumerations and administrative labour records. Consequently NFHS is not the principal formal unemployment-data source identified in the exam.
17. Rural workers who are without work only during particular months face which type of unemployment?
[SSC MTS – 12 July 2022]
(A) Educated
(B) Disguised
(C) Frictional
(D) Seasonal
Answer: (D) Seasonal
Explanation: Seasonal unemployment occurs when jobs are available in busy periods but disappear in slack months. Crop sowing and harvesting illustrate this pattern. Disguised unemployment is different because extra workers may remain nominally employed even though their additional output is negligible.
16. Which term describes apparent rural employment where surplus workers make little additional contribution?
[SSC MTS – 22 July 2022]
(A) Disguised unemployment
(B) Voluntary unemployment
(C) Educated unemployment
(D) Seasonal unemployment
Answer: (A) Disguised unemployment
Explanation: Family agriculture can absorb more labour than production actually requires. Some participants remain occupied without raising output, creating hidden or disguised unemployment. This is not the same as voluntary joblessness, in which a person declines employment at the available conditions.
15. On what date did the Digital India programme begin?
[RRB NTPC – 31 January 2021]
(A) 25 September 2014
(B) 1 July 2015
(C) 25 June 2016
(D) 15 July 2017
Answer: (B) 1 July 2015
Explanation: Digital India was launched on 1 July 2015 to expand connectivity, digital infrastructure and electronic public services. It also supports digital literacy and participation in technology-enabled economic activities. The date should not be confused with other initiatives introduced around the same period.
14. Which broad sector contributed the most to India’s national income at the time of this examination?
[UPPSC RO/ARO – 5 December 2021]
(A) Services
(B) Agriculture
(C) Industry
(D) Trade alone
Answer: (A) Services
Explanation: Trade, finance, communication, transport and business services collectively account for a large proportion of India’s value added. Accordingly services had the largest national income share. Sectoral GDP shares and the shares of workers in each sector are distinct measurements.
13. A geographic or occupational mismatch between job vacancies and available workers creates what kind of unemployment?
[UPSC CDS – 7 February 2021]
(A) Structural
(B) Disguised
(C) Altered
(D) Cyclical
Answer: (A) Structural
Explanation: Structural unemployment appears when jobs exist but suitable workers are absent in the required location or lack relevant skills. The underlying imbalance is not necessarily resolved by an economic recovery. Education, reskilling and labour mobility are common responses.
12. According to Economic Survey 2019–20, approximately what share of India’s FDI inflows went to the services sector?
[SSC GD – 6 December 2021]
(A) Two-thirds
(B) One-half
(C) One-tenth
(D) One-fourth
Answer: (A) Two-thirds
Explanation: The Economic Survey reported that services were a major destination for foreign direct investment, with about two-thirds of inflows in the indicated period. This reflects investor interest in finance, communications and other service industries, although sectoral shares change with time.
11. Which approximate share of GDP was given in the WBCS 2020 paper for India’s service sector?
[WBCS Prelims – 2020]
(A) 60%
(B) 50%
(C) 42%
(D) 23%
Answer: (A) 60%
Explanation: The WBCS 2020 solved paper marks 60% as its answer. The services sector includes trade, hospitality, finance, communications and professional activities. These are approximate historical examination figures; their shares differ with the year, measurement base and statistical revisions.
10. Which unemployment measure counts those without work for the major part of the reference year?
[UPPSC Civil Services Prelims – 2019]
(A) Usual-status unemployment
(B) Current daily status
(C) Current weekly status
(D) None of these
Answer: (A) Usual-status unemployment
Explanation: Usual status uses a long reference period, generally the preceding year, to determine principal economic activity. It captures persistent joblessness rather than short fluctuations within a week. Current weekly and daily status approaches use shorter reference intervals.
9. Who proposed the natural-rate-of-unemployment hypothesis?
[UPSC CDS – 18 November 2018]
(A) Milton Friedman
(B) A. W. Phillips
(C) J. M. Keynes
(D) R. G. Lipsey
Answer: (A) Milton Friedman
Explanation: Milton Friedman helped develop the natural-rate hypothesis, arguing against a permanent stable trade-off between inflation and unemployment. Phillips had earlier described an empirical wage–unemployment relationship. Expectations matter: attempts to hold unemployment below its sustainable rate can fuel accelerating inflation.
8. People who choose not to work at the prevailing wage rate are classified as what?
[RPSC Senior Teacher (Social Science) – 29 October 2018]
(A) Voluntarily unemployed
(B) Frictionally unemployed
(C) Casually unemployed
(D) Seasonally unemployed
Answer: (A) Voluntarily unemployed
Explanation: Voluntary unemployment occurs when someone declines available work at the prevailing pay or conditions. This differs from involuntary unemployment, where a person is willing and able to work but cannot secure employment. The distinction hinges on willingness to accept existing offers.
7. With reference to National Career Service, consider:
(1) it is a Department of Personnel and Training initiative;
(2) it was designed specifically to improve opportunities for uneducated youth.
Which statement is correct?
[UPSC Civil Services Prelims – 2017]
(A) 1 only
(B) 2 only
(C) Both 1 and 2
(D) Neither 1 nor 2
Answer: (D) Neither 1 nor 2
Explanation: National Career Service is administered through the Ministry of Labour and Employment, not the Department of Personnel and Training. It provides career-related assistance more broadly to job seekers, employers and counselling agencies, not exclusively to uneducated young people.
6. What share of GDP did India’s service sector exceed according to this WBCS question?
[WBCS Prelims – 2017]
(A) 33%
(B) 40%
(C) 42%
(D) 50%
Answer: (D) 50%
Explanation: The services sector had grown into the largest contributor to India’s output by the time of the examination. The correct threshold among the options is more than 50%. Services include trade, transport, financial services and a wide range of professional activities.
5. What was the Current Daily Status unemployment rate in India in NSS 2011–12?
[CGPSC Prelims – 2016]
(A) 2.2%
(B) 5.6%
(C) 8.0%
(D) 7.1%
Answer: (B) 5.6%
Explanation: The 2011–12 survey placed unemployment measured by current daily status at 5.6%. The daily-status measure incorporates day-to-day employment experience within a reference week and can differ substantially from usual-status unemployment measured over a longer period.
4. Which sector accounted for the largest share of India’s GDP?
[WBCS Prelims – 2013]
(A) Agriculture
(B) Industry
(C) Services
(D) Foreign trade
Answer: (C) Services
Explanation: By 2013 the services sector contributed the greatest share of Indian GDP. Large activities included trade, transport, banking, real estate and communications. Agriculture nevertheless remained a crucial employer, highlighting the distinction between labour-force distribution and output composition.
3. Which programme was not merged into the Swarna Jayanti Shahari Rozgar Yojana launched in December 1997?
[UPSC Civil Services Prelims – 2000]
(A) Nehru Rozgar Yojana
(B) Urban Basic Services Programme
(C) Prime Minister’s Integrated Urban Poverty Eradication Programme
(D) Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana
Answer: (D) Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana
Explanation: The urban livelihood programme combined selected earlier urban poverty and employment initiatives. Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana was separate and not one of the merged programmes. Identifying the distinction requires knowing the institutional consolidation implemented under SJSRY in 1997.
2. What was the principal purpose of the National Renewal Fund?
[UPSC Civil Services Prelims – 1999]
(A) Protect workers affected by technological modernisation or closure of sick units
(B) Develop only core industries
(C) Fund energy and transport infrastructure
(D) Finance literacy, housing and drinking water generally
Answer: (A) Protect workers affected by technological modernisation or closure of sick units
Explanation: The National Renewal Fund was designed as a social safety measure for workers affected by industrial restructuring, modernisation and closure of unviable enterprises. Worker assistance, redeployment and retraining were central concerns, rather than the general financing of infrastructure.
1. Urban Micro Enterprises, Urban Wage Employment and Housing and Shelter Upgradation were components of which programme?
[UPSC Civil Services Prelims – 1997]
(A) Integrated Rural Development Programme
(B) Nehru Rozgar Yojana
(C) Jawahar Rozgar Yojana
(D) Prime Minister’s Rozgar Yojana
Answer: (B) Nehru Rozgar Yojana
Explanation: Nehru Rozgar Yojana was an urban anti-poverty and employment programme containing components for self-employment, wage employment and housing improvements. The other listed schemes had different beneficiaries or design. The grouping of these three components identifies the Nehru scheme.