November sees 8.28 lakh additions to formal work, beats October score: EPFO Payroll

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At least 8,27, 979 people joined formal work for the first time in November, showing a marginal uptick in the formal sector job creation over the month-ago period, the payroll data of the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization (EPFO) showed on January 20.

The new payroll addition is 22,964 more than the new additions in October. New addition in payroll numbers in November were, however, less than that of any of the months since June 2021 except October.

New payroll additions were at 9,65,783 in September, and 9,90,816 in August 2021. In July and June, new payroll additions were 9,84,019 and 8,84,547 respectively, according to the EPFO.

On a month-on-month basis, new payroll additions in the 18-25 age group were 4,74,987 in November as against 4,64,684 in October for the same 18-25 age group, considered crucial in the formal labour market.

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Meanwhile, 5,59,835 new payroll additions were reported for the same age group in September.

While the growth in new payroll additions were marginally up, EPFO said the provisional payroll data shows a significant growth in net payroll additions. It said November added 13.95 lakh net EPF subscribers as against 11.1 lakh net additions in October.

To be sure, last month EPFO had said that the next payroll addition in October was nearly 12.73 lakh. It means, the fresh data has revised downward the net payroll additions for October.

The latest numbers are provisional, and may change over the next couple of months. Also, the new payroll additions were considered more reliable by experts than the net additions, which tend to fluctuate more.

EPFO data showed that among states, companies and establishments in Maharashtra, Haryana, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka are the lead job creators. Employers from these states added approximately 8.46 lakh net EPF subscribers during the month, "which is around 60.6% of total net payroll addition across all age groups".

The pension fund body in a separate statement said that of the total 13.95 lakh net subscribers added during November, approximately 5.67 lakh subscribers exited but rejoined EPFO by changing jobs within the establishments covered under the purview of EPF Act. The subscribers opted to continue their membership with EPFO by transferring their PF accumulations from previous to present PF account instead of applying for final withdrawal.

November also saw 59,000 more female subscribers than October, when 2.36 lakh net females subscribers participated in the organised workforce, the retirement fund manager said.

Industry-wise payroll data indicated that ‘expert services’ category constituted 41.48 percent of total subscriber addition during November. EPFO also said that there is a growing trend in net payroll additions for sectors like construction, textiles, schools, restaurants, cement etc.