According to data released by the Employees’ Provident Fund Organization, the government’s flagship social security scheme added 1.93 million members in June 2023, a 7.9% increase from the previous year.
During this time, the EPFO scheme added 1.03 million new employees, an increase of 4% over the previous month and 1% over the previous year.
The data show that people between the ages of 18 and 25 dominate, with 59.14 percent of all new members added in June 2024 coming from this age group. According to the release, “this is consistent with the previous trend, which indicates that the majority of individuals joining the organized workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers.”
According to EPF data, female employment increased during the month by 5.88 percent over the previous year.
In the month, nearly 300,000 new employees included women, or nearly 30% of the total.
“A state-by-state analysis of payroll data reveals that the five states/UTs of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Gujarat, and Haryana have the highest net member addition rates. These states added a total of 1.18 million net members in a month, or 61.16 percent of the total number of new members. According to the report, Maharashtra leads all states by adding 21.09 percent of net members during the month.
Urban unemployment decreased from 6.7% in Q4FY24 to 6.6% in the first quarter of fiscal FY25, according to government data released earlier this month.
However, female unemployment had increased during this time.
In addition to the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation scheme and the National Pension Scheme, the EPF is used as a proxy to determine formal job addition.