Data from the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) indicates a slowdown in formal job creation, with one million fewer jobs registered compared to the same period last year. Between April and July of the current fiscal year, 6.01 million new formal jobs were generated, marking a 14.5% decrease from the 7.03 million created in the previous year.
Labour economist KR Shyam Sundar suggests that this data reflects a decline in formalization of the workforce, potentially leaving many without social security coverage. However, the quarterly periodic labour force survey (PLFS) by the ministry of statistics and programme implementation indicates positive trends in urban labor statistics for the first quarter of 2023.