Net employment creation in the formal sector was reported at 10.43 lakh in April 2019, according to the latest EPFO payroll data. In the twenty-month period since September 2017, April 2019 has the highest net job creation numbers. It's also the first time that formal job creation as per EPFO has crossed level of 10 lakh for a single month.
As per the release, 61.12 lakh jobs were created in the financial year 2019. While 15.52 lakh jobs were created in the seven-month period starting from September 2017 to March 2018. Bringing the total job creation in the twenty month since September 2017 to April 2019 at 87.08 lakh.
In April 2019, 8.78 lakh new members joined EPF while 3.35 lakh members exited EPF scheme. However close to 5 lakh members re-joined and re-subscribed to the EPF scheme.
In spite of recording the highest net job creation numbers of 10.43 lakh in April 2019, the monthly average number of net job creation has declined by over 2,000 jobs. The monthly average job creation numbers have consistently been declining after every release of EPFO.
As per the latest release the average monthly job creation stands at 4.35 lakhs. However, since the November 2018 release, when the average job creation was 6.11 lakh, the numbers have steadily declined. The average monthly job creation was 5.65 lakh in December 2018, 4.90 lakh in January 2019. In February it declined to 4.52 lakh, and continued to slide at 4.50 lakh in March, 4.49 lakh in April and 4.37 lakh in May 2019.
In the last release of EPFO, 67.58 lakh jobs were generated in the entire 2018-19 fiscal, while 15.52 lakh jobs were created in the seven month period from September 17 to March 18. The employment statistics number for the 19 month period (September 2017 to March 2019) as per the latest disclosure has been revised by 6.46 lakh jobs. This payroll data is based on members joining the schemes of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO).
The retirement fund body has been releasing payroll data from April 2018, covering the period starting from September 2017.
The estimates may include temporary employees whose contributions may not be continuous for the entire year. Members' data are linked to unique Aadhaar identity, it added.
The EPFO manages social security funds of workers in the organised or semi-organised sector in India and has more than 6 crore active members (with at least one-month contribution during the year).