Employment Generation Touches 17-month High in Formal Sector

Guwahati: According to the latest Employment Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) payroll data, net employment generation in the formal sector touched a 17-month high of 8.96 lakh in January.

The EPFO has been releasing payroll data from April 2018 starting from September 2017 and the addition in January was 131 percent higher as compared with 3.87 lakh EPFO subscribers.

The EPFO data said that in September, 2017 a net of 2,75,609 jobs were created. The data also stated that around 76.48 lakh new subscribers were added to social security schemes of the Employees' Provident Fund Organization from September 2017 to January 2019. The data indicates that these jobs were created in the formal sector over the past 17 months.

According to the data provided by EPFO, the net EPFO enrolment in January 2019 stood at 8, 96, 516 which is the highest since September 2017.

The payroll data released last month by the EPFO revised slightly downwards for December 2018 by 1.8 per cent to 7.03lakh against the earlier estimate of 7.16 lakh.

The organization's data also showed that the March 2018 figure is negative due to a large number of exits reported in March in view of it being the closing month of the financial year.

According to the data, the highest number of 2.44 lakh jobs were created between the age group of 22-25 years in January 2019 followed by 2.24lakhs in the age group of 18-21 years.

However, the exited members data is based on the claims submitted by the individuals and establishments and the exit data uploaded by employers and the number of new subscribers is based on the Universal Account Number generated in the system and those who have received a non-zero subscription.

According to EPFO, the data is provisional as updation of employee records is a continuous process and gets updated in subsequent months. It also added that the estimates may include temporary employees whose contributions may not be continuous for the entire year and members data are linked to unique Adhaar identity.

They further informed that the EPFO manages social security funds of workers in the organized/semi-organized sector in India and has more than 6 crore active members.

Also Read: NATIONAL NEWS