Fresh formal hirings face marginal decline in June, shows EPFO data

The data is signalling a slowdown in the formal labour market

The creation of new formal jobs under the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) saw a marginal dip of 0.69 per cent to 1.02 million in June, when compared to the previous month when the retirement fund body had enrolled 1.03 million fresh members.

It signalled a slowdown in the formal labour market.

The EPFO data is considered crucial as only the formal workforce enjoys social security benefits and is protected by labour laws.

Of the total 1.02 million new EPF subscribers in June, the share of young people belonging to the 18-25 age group stood at 59.14 per cent (606,000) in June.

This is a slight increase from May, when 58.17 per cent (600,348) of new subscribers were in this age group. This is crucial because subscribers in this age group are usually first-timers in the labour market, thus reflecting its robustness.

Additionally, the proportion of women among new subscribers was 29 per cent (297,599) in June, up from 25 per cent (258,970) in May. This improvement highlights a positive trend in female participation in the workforce.

Meanwhile, the net payroll additions -- calculated by taking into account the number of new subscribers, the number of subscribers that exited, and the return of old subscribers to the social security organisation -- increased to 1.92 million in May from 1.68 million in May.

Month	New EPF subscribers
June 2023	1072808
July	1099052
Aug	982704
Sep	950527
Oct	829762
Nov	762513
Dec	840584
January 2024	807865
Feb	777717
March	747146
April	950147
May	1,031,982
June	1,024,851

Source: EPFO