Net job creation halves to 2.25 lakh in March as against 4.37 lakh in February, shows EPFO data

India's net job creation has fallen by nearly half to 2.25 lakh in March, as against 4.37 lakh in February, according to the latest EPFO release dated May 21. EPFO has declared gross additional employment at 8.14 lakh for March. However, it has revised downwards the previous 18 months of job additions by 5.90 lakh, resulting in a net addition of just 2.25 lakh in the month.

The highest downward revision of 74,351 jobs was made for the month of December 2018 followed by a revision of 73,672 jobs for the month of February 2019.

A standard disclaimer in every EPFO release explains the changes in monthly numbers on the following lines: "Data is provisional as updation of employees' records is a continuous process and gets updated in subsequent month/s".

Total net formal employment during the 19-month period (September 2017 to March 2019) stood at 83.11 lakh, according to EPFO's May release. EPFO has been releasing the formal employment numbers since April 2018 covering the period from September 2017 onwards.

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).

The previous EPFO report, which was released in April 2019, had declared net formal job creation for the 18 months between September 2017 and February 2019 at 80.86 lakh.

This is the third consecutive EPFO report that has shown a net increase in the formal job creation. In the EPFO's March release the formal employment number stood at 76.48 lakh which increased in the April 19 release to 80.86 lakhs. In the latest, May 19, release the formal employment stood at 83.11 lakh. A net increase of 2.24 lakh formal jobs over the previous month.

In the EPFO employment releases ranging from December 2018 to February 2019 there was a continuous downward revision in the net formal employment creation. The December release witnessed a downward revision of 32,011 jobs, January release saw a decline of 5.65 lakh jobs and the February release of EPFO showcased a downward revision of 1.18 lakh jobs.

As per the latest report, 67.58 lakh jobs were generated in the entire 2018-19 fiscal, the payroll data based on members joining the schemes of the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) showed. In the 7 month period from September 2017 to March 2018, the formal employment numbers stood at 15.52 lakh.