Fresh Hirings Decline In August, Hit A Four-Month Low, EPFO Data Reveals

The number of new monthly subscribers under the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) declined by nearly 11 per cent to 930,000. The additions in the workforce hit a four-month low

Fresh formal hirings slowed down in August, official data revealed. The latest monthly payroll data released by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) showed that the formal labour market could be experiencing a downturn. 

The number of new monthly subscribers under the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) declined by nearly 11 per cent to 930,000. The additions in the workforce hit a four-month low after July registered 1.05 million new subscribers, reported Business Standard.

The EPFO data, released on Sunday, helps in understanding the formal workforce. From the overall 930,000 new EPF subscribers clocked in August, the contribution of the 18-25 age group slipped to 59.26 per cent or 551,000, from 59.4 per cent or 625,000 registered in July. Typically, individuals in this age group are freshers joining the workforce for the first time and indicate the robustness of the labour market.

Women subscribers in the new additions declined to 27.2 per cent or 253,000 from 29 per cent or 305,000 clocked in the preceding month. This signalled a downturn in the participation of females in the labourforce.

Notably, the net payroll additions are calculated after taking into consideration the number of new subscribers, the amount of subscribers that have exited the system, and the number of old subscribers who returned to the social security organisation. This figure touched 1.85 million in August. 

However, net monthly payroll statistics are provisional by nature and are often revised sharply the following month. This is why this data is not considered very reliable in comparison to the new EPF subscribers number. The payroll data also showed that nearly 135,400 members exited the system and subsequently rejoined the organisation.

The labour ministry issued an official statement and said, “The above payroll data is provisional since the data generation is a continuous exercise, as updating employee records is a continuous process. The previous data gets updated every month.”