Weekly Numerics | Rising toll in Israel-Hamas war, limited impact of Canada row on student loans, and lack of quality service jobs

Weekly Numerics is a column where we present three to five charts based on major events or interesting data points that emerged during the week. Several key numbers were released in the week gone by. Here are some of the figures we found interesting.

The rising human toll in Israel-Hamas war

The number of casualties is quickly rising as the war between Israel and Hamas rages on. Since October 7, more than 3,785 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza and more than 12,000 have been injured. Meanwhile, more than 1,400 have died in Israel — most of them from the October 7 violence, when Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel. The number of injured in Israel has crossed 4,500.

According to the Armed Conflict Location & Event Data Project (ACLED), more than 400,000 Palestinians have been already displaced from Northern Gaza amid heavy airstrikes and a looming threat of a ground invasion. According to the UN, no place in the Gaza Strip is safe from airstrikes, including its own facilities.

Thousands of Palestinians have been reported to have taken shelter in schools and hospitals within Gaza. In the deadliest incident since the start of the present conflict, a blast at one such hospital killed hundreds and injured hundreds more. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have blamed the blast on a misfired rocket by the Palestine Islamic Jihad. On its part. Hamas, which governs Gaza, claims that the hospital was hit by an Israeli airstrike.

Canada-India row unlikely to affect NBFC education loans

The ongoing diplomatic row between India and Canada surrounding the death of Khalistani separatist Hardeep Singh Nijjar would have very limited impact on the overseas education loan segment of non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), according to a report by CareEdge Ratings.

The loan segment of NBFCs for students studying in Canada has had a considerable compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 77.5 percent from March 31, 2021, to June 30, 2023. The outstanding assets under management (AUM) went up from Rs 1,426 crore to Rs 5,183 crore during the period.

Although there could be a decline in the number of visa applications in the short term due to the rise in tensions, it is unlikely to have any term long-term impact given the contribution of Indian students to Canada’s economy. Indian students account for as much as 40 percent of overseas students in Canadian universities and are estimated to contribute CAD $10 billion to that country’s economy.

According to the CareEdge report, even in the short term, the AUM growth of NBFC education loans is unlikely to be affected as Indian students have several alternative destinations for their education, such as the US and the UK.

There has been a rise in service jobs, but their quality has dipped

As many as 4.75 million jobs have been added in the services sector over the past one year. However, despite this significant increase, the quality of jobs added has been found wanting, according to data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).

More than 69 percent of services jobs added between September 2022 and September 2023 were in personal non-professional services. Among others, this category includes services such as barbers, carpenters, gymnasium instructors, plumbers, gardeners, newspaper distributors, marriage hall decorators, watchmen, etc. These jobs are generally precarious and usually have lower pay.

Interestingly, jobs in retail trade, which is also not a professional service, fell significantly during this period.

“The kind of labour that is being absorbed into the services sector is likely the low-skilled labour that moves in and out of agriculture based on sowing/harvesting demand, or maybe even construction site workers with temporary jobs. These jobs are abundant. They provide a lot of employment opportunities to the country’s large population that is relatively poorly educated. However, a bigger concern persists — the more skilled and educated folks in India are still struggling to find suitable jobs,” said CMIE in an analysis report.

“We are yet to witness a surge in more skilled jobs such as in IT and ITeS, education, media and entertainment services and so on,” added the business information company.