New Delhi: The formal job sector is reflecting a declining trend with nearly 10% less fresh jobs created in 2023 compared to 2022 and 9.2% decline in first-time employees in the formal labour market, as per a Business Standard report.

In 2023, 10.78 million new subscribers joined the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) between January and December while 11.93 million joined in 2022, Business Standard reported. Notably, labour laws are applicable only for the workers in the formal sector.

The monthly payroll data released by the EPFO also indicated that the number of new young subscribers belonging to the 18-28 age group declined to 7.2 million in 2023 from 7.93 million in the corresponding period of the preceding year, as per the analysis by Business Standard. The individuals belonging to this age group are usually first-timers in the labour market.

Also read: Ten-Year Record on Employment: Does the Reality Match the Promises or Claims?

Drop in number of new female formal sector employees 

In 2023, 2.8 million new female subscribers joined the EPF which is 11% less compared to the corresponding period of the preceding year which stood at 3.14 million.

The findings of the analysis of the payroll data is similar to the recently released annual periodic labour force survey (PLFS) which showed that that the unemployment rate had dropped to a six-year low of 3.2% in July–June 2022–23 from 4.1% in July–June 2021–22.

As indicated in the Business Standard report, the PLFS survey reflected that the share of people engaged in agriculture has increased sharply to 45.8% in 2022-23 from 45.5% in 2021-22 whereas the share of people engaged in manufacturing has gone down to 11.4% from 11.6% during the same period.

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