Fresh formal hirings increase in July by 2.5% to 1.05 million: EPFO data

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The number of monthly fresh formal hirings increased in July, signalling a recovery in the formal labour market.

In July, the number of new monthly subscribers under the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF) increased by 2.6 per cent to 1.05 million from 1.02 in June, according to the latest monthly payroll data released by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Monday.
 

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

Of the total 1.05 million new EPF subscribers in July, the share of young people belonging to the 18-25 age group also slightly increased to 59.4 per cent (625,000) from June, when 59.1 per cent (606,000) 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 stood at 29 per cent (305,000) during the month. This 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 -- stood at 1.99 million in July. 

An industry-wise breakup of the net payroll numbers shows that nearly two out of every five net additions came from expert services including manpower suppliers, contractors and security services among others. Similarly, a state-wise breakup showed that Maharashtra (20 per cent) reported the highest number of net new additions during the month.

The net monthly payroll numbers are, however, provisional in nature and are often revised sharply the following month. That is why the new EPF subscriber figure is considered more reliable than net additions. 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. 

New EPFO subscribers

 

January 2024	807865
Feb	777717
March	747146
April	887000
May	985,000
June	1,025,000
July	1052000

Source: EPFO