India's formal job growth slowed down slightly in September. EPF and ESIC added fewer new members. NPS saw increased subscriptions. The first half of the fiscal year still shows overall growth compared to last year. Female subscriptions dipped...
By ET Bureau | Updated:
ETtech
India's formal job market witnessed a marginal decline in September, with two of three social security schemes that capture the numbers reporting a fall in new subscribers, according to the data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Monday.
The number of new subscribers added to the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) scheme dropped to 0.95 million from 0.98 million in August, marking the lowest level so far in the current financial year.
Subscriber addition at the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) fell from 1.53 million in August to 1.5 million, the lowest after April, according to a MoSPI report titled 'Payroll Reporting in India: An Employment Perspective - September 2024'.
The National Pension Scheme (NPS) reported new subscriber additions of 58,018 in September compared with 54,869 in August. Except for August, the number was higher in every other month this fiscal year.
Overall, the first six months of the current financial year recorded higher subscriptions across all three schemes compared to the corresponding period last year.
Female subscribers to EPF and ESIC fell by 6.6% and 6.9%, respectively in September compared to August, while the number of male EPF subscribers declined by 1.9%. The number of male ESIC subscribers increased marginally by 0.1%.
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Subscribers to NPS grew by 15.7% among women, surpassing a 1.8% increase in male subscribers.
