Formal jobs created under the Employees Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) jumped 9.14% to 16.82 lakh in September from 15.41 lakh jobs in the same period of the previous fiscal year, according to data published by the Department of Finance. Of this, about 9.34 lakh jobs are first timers in September. Net enrollment for the month is 21.85% higher than the monthly average recorded during the last fiscal year. In August, the total number of new members added under EPFO stood at 16.94 lakh.
Among the new members, the highest number was recorded for the 18-21 age group with 2.94 lakh members, followed by the 21-25 age group with 2.54 lakh members. About 58.75% of the new members belong to the age group between 18 and 25 years old. And 3.50 lakh female members joined EPFO in September, with a year-on-year growth rate of 6.08% compared to 3.27 lakh members in the same period last year. Among the total number of new members joining EPFO during the month, the enrollment of female workforce was recorded at 26.36%.
“This shows that first-time job seekers are joining the organized sector workforce in large numbers after graduation and that new jobs in the organized sector are largely going to the nation’s youth,” said the Ministry.
During the month, up to 7.49 lakh net members left and joined EPFO by changing jobs and opting to transfer their funds from their old provident fund account instead of opting for final settlement . In September, EPFO outgoing members decreased by 9.65% compared to the previous month.
Among the states, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Gujarat and Delhi are leading in job creation under the EPFO collectively adding about 11.41 lakh new members, or 67.85% of the total net addition to payroll in all age groups.
“The classification of payroll data by industry indicates that mainly two categories, namely “expert services” (composed of labor agencies, private security agencies and small contractors, etc.) and “Commercial and Commercial Establishments” constitute 48.52% of the total addition of members during the month. Comparing the sectoral data with that of the previous month, higher registrations were seen in the sectors, namely “banks other than nationalized banks,” “textile,” “general insurance,” “hotels,” “hospitals,” etc.,” the ministry said.
Recently, a report from the Center for Economic Monitoring of India (CMIE) showed that in October the country’s unemployment rate grew by 7.77%, down from a four-year low of 6.43%. in September, due to a significant increase in the rural unemployment rate. . Of these, the unemployment rate in urban areas saw a drop to 7.21% from 7.70% in September, while rural areas saw the unemployment rate climb to 8.04% during the month. .