As of March 2002, Kerala's banking sector comprised 3341 local branches: each branch served 10,000 people, lower than the national average of 16,000; the state has the third-highest bank penetration among Indian states.[112] On 1 October 2011, Kerala became the first state in the country to have at least one banking facility in every village.[113] Unemployment in 2007 was estimated at 9.4%;[114] chronic issues are underemployment, low employability of youth, and a low female labour participation rate of only 13.5%,[115]: 5, 13 as was the practice of Nokku kooli, "wages for looking on".[116] (On 30 April 2018, the Kerala state government issued an order to abolish Nokku Kooli, to take effect on 1 May.[117]) By 1999–2000, the rural and urban poverty rates dropped to 10.0% and 9.6%, respectively.[118]