India’s formal employment had a mixed showing in November

Despite the fall in employment in the ESIC, female participation rose to its highest level in eight months

India’s formal job creation had a mixed showing in November, with new additions across two of the three social security schemes falling, according to data released by the government on January 24.

New enrollments to the Employees’ Provident Fund scheme, which applies to larger organisations and better-paid employees, rose 11.2 percent over the previous month to 0.9 million in November compared with 0.78 million in October.

But new subscriptions to Employees' State Insurance Corporation, which applies to smaller organisations and lower-paying jobs, declined to its lowest level this year of 1.18 million. The scheme had added 1.31 million jobs in the previous month.

Subscriptions to the National Pension System also declined 37 percent to 40,920 compared with 64,977 in the previous month, as hiring in Central and state governments dipped and new subscriptions from the private sector also declined.

Female participation rises back

Despite the fall in employment in the ESIC, female participation rose to its highest level in eight months, as women accounted for nearly 23 percent of the 1.18 million new subscriptions added.

In the case of EPF, women accounted for 27.4 percent of new subscribers, slightly lower than 27.6 percent in October, but higher than the low of 25.8 percent achieved in September.

Other data released on January 24, by HSBC, showed that employment momentum likely carried on in January despite private sector activity dipping to a 14-month low.

Muted showing for the fiscal

The first eight months of the fiscal show a much more muted growth in employment. New subscribers to the EPF scheme were only 4 percent up from the previous year, while ESIC subscriptions were only 4.3 percent higher.

NPS take up was slower through the year, as elections slowed down central government hiring and private sector take up of the scheme was also low.