iStockIndia has created more than 80 million employment opportunities in the five-year period from 2017-18 to 2021-22, translating to an average of over 20 million jobs or employment per year, the ministry of labour and employment said on Monday.
Countering the media reports on India’s inability to generate sufficient employment, the ministry said, “ This significant employment creation, despite the fact that the world economy was hit by COVID-19 pandemic during 2020-21, demonstrates the effectiveness of various government initiatives aimed at boosting employment across sectors”.
As per the statement, the annual PLFS data shows the worker population ratio has gone up to 56% in 2022-23 from 46.8% in 2017-18 and the labour force participation has also increased 57.9% in 2022-23 from 49.8% in 2017-18 while the unemployment Rate has declined to 3.2% as against 6.0% in 2017-18.
“The PLFS data shows that during the last five years, more employment opportunities have been generated compared to the number of people joining the labour force, resulting in a consistent reduction in the unemployment rate,” it said.
“This is a clear indicator of the positive impact of government policies on employment. Contrary to the report, which suggests a dire employment scenario, the official data reveals a more optimistic picture of the Indian job market,” it added.
Quoting the data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey and the KLEMS data of the Reserve Bank of India, the ministry said that these official data sources show consistent improvements in the key labour market indicators, including increased labour force participation rate (LFPR) and worker population ratio (WPR), and a declining unemployment rate during last five years.
“The trends in manufacturing, expanding service sector, infrastructure growth, apart from others, including emerging opportunities in multiple sectors such as gig and platform economy and global capability centres indicate robust future prospects,” it said.
Emphasizing on the credibility and comprehensiveness of official data, the ministry cautioned against the selective use of private data sources that can lead to misleading conclusions about India's employment scenario.
“It is well known that private data sources have several shortcomings as these surveys use their own derived definition of employment and unemployment which is not aligned to either national or international standards,” it said.
“The sample distribution and methodology are often critiqued for not being as robust or representative as official data sources like PLFS,” it said, adding that . Therefore, reliance on such private data sources over official statistics can lead to misleading conclusions and thus, should be used with caution.
“The government remains committed to creating a robust and inclusive job market, and the evidence suggests substantial progress is being made in this direction,” it concluded.
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As per the statement, the annual PLFS data shows the worker population ratio has gone up to 56% in 2022-23 from 46.8% in 2017-18 and the labour force participation has also increased 57.9% in 2022-23 from 49.8% in 2017-18 while the unemployment Rate has declined to 3.2% as against 6.0% in 2017-18.
“The PLFS data shows that during the last five years, more employment opportunities have been generated compared to the number of people joining the labour force, resulting in a consistent reduction in the unemployment rate,” it said.
“This is a clear indicator of the positive impact of government policies on employment. Contrary to the report, which suggests a dire employment scenario, the official data reveals a more optimistic picture of the Indian job market,” it added.
Quoting the data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey and the KLEMS data of the Reserve Bank of India, the ministry said that these official data sources show consistent improvements in the key labour market indicators, including increased labour force participation rate (LFPR) and worker population ratio (WPR), and a declining unemployment rate during last five years.
“The trends in manufacturing, expanding service sector, infrastructure growth, apart from others, including emerging opportunities in multiple sectors such as gig and platform economy and global capability centres indicate robust future prospects,” it said.
Emphasizing on the credibility and comprehensiveness of official data, the ministry cautioned against the selective use of private data sources that can lead to misleading conclusions about India's employment scenario.
“It is well known that private data sources have several shortcomings as these surveys use their own derived definition of employment and unemployment which is not aligned to either national or international standards,” it said.
“The sample distribution and methodology are often critiqued for not being as robust or representative as official data sources like PLFS,” it said, adding that . Therefore, reliance on such private data sources over official statistics can lead to misleading conclusions and thus, should be used with caution.
“The government remains committed to creating a robust and inclusive job market, and the evidence suggests substantial progress is being made in this direction,” it concluded.
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