India saw a 6% increase in employment in FY24, up from 3.2% in FY23, according to data from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
This growth brought the total number of jobs to 64.33 crore, an increase from 59.67 crore in FY23.
The RBI's Measuring Productivity at Industrial Level-The India KLEMS (capital, labour, energy, material, services) data highlights this significant rise in employment. However, private surveys present a more concerning picture regarding unemployment and job quality.
The Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) reported that the unemployment rate rose to 9.2% in June from 7% in May.
Additionally, the unemployment rate for FY24 increased to 8% from 7.5% and 7.7% in the previous two years. The country added 4.67 crore jobs in FY24, yet private surveys suggest that the high unemployment rate persists.
Bloomberg reports that job quality and the lack of formal sector employment remain major challenges.
Approximately 46% of India's workforce is still employed in agriculture, a sector contributing less than 20% to the gross domestic product (GDP). The manufacturing sector accounted for 11.4% of total jobs in 2023.
Post-pandemic, formal sector employment has declined, with only 25.7% of the workforce employed in the formal sector, the lowest in 18 years, according to Bloomberg.
The RBI stated on Monday that it is using a provisional estimate of productivity for the entire economy for the first time in FY24 based on available data. Despite the reported growth in jobs, the quality and distribution of these jobs raise concerns, especially with the formal sector employment remaining significantly low.
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