Labour market witnesses uneven recovery in January

Formal job creation based on the number of enrolments with the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) rose sequentially in January, while the net new additions under the Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) and the National Pension Scheme (NPS) fell, suggesting an uneven labour market recovery in India.

Payroll data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, released on Friday, show the net new subscriber addition under the EPFO in January at 1.52 million, or 20.6% more than the previous month's addition of 1.26 million.

Net new subscribers under ESIC fell by 16.2% to 1.28 million from 1.53 million in December 2021.

NPS also witnessed a dip of 10.4%, with 64,998 new subscribers in January compared to 72,578 the previous month.According to the report, 1.04 million male subscribers were added to the ESIC. The number of new female subscribers was 0.23 million.

Of the total 1.52 million net subscribers added to the EPFO during the month, around 0.86 million were registered under the social security ambit of the EPF & MP Act, 1952 for the first time. About 0.66 million net subscribers had exited but re-joined the EPFO by continuing their membership, instead of opting for a final withdrawal of the funds.

Under the NPS, the most subscriber addition in January was from state government employees at 38,524, followed by central government employees (13,421) and from the non-government or corporate sector (13,053).