India adds record 88 lakh jobs in April: CMIE report

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, May 15

In one of the largest expansions in the labour market since the beginning of the pandemic, 88 lakh people joined the country’s workforce in April, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) has said. The jobs that became available were inadequate compared to the demand as there was a fall of 12 lakh jobs in the previous three months, it said.

India’s labour force increased by 88 lakh to 43.72 crore in April, one of the largest monthly increases since the beginning of the pandemic, said CMIE Managing Director and CEO Mahesh Vyas. The labour market was at 42.84 crore in March, he added.

Low-scale avenues

• Most new job additions are of daily-wagers and small traders
• In previous fiscal, average monthly increase in labour force stood at only 2 lakh
• India’s labour force increased by 88 lakh to 43.72 cr in April

Most of the increase in employment in April was in industry and in services. Industry added 55 lakh jobs and services added another 67 lakh jobs, as per the data. But employment in the agricultural sector fell by 52 lakh.

A partial reason for the fall in employment in the farm sector may be winding down of the rabi harvesting season. Another reason could be the decline in wheat production, said the report. Most of the new industry jobs are unlikely to be of better quality as most of the new additions were daily-wagers and small traders, the report said. The data said in the previous fiscal, the average monthly increase in the country’s labour force was only two lakhs.

The 88 lakh increase in labour force participation was only possible if some working-age people who were out of jobs joined the working population in April. This is because the working-age population cannot grow by more than two million per month, it reasoned.

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