Generating employment

Technological changes will increase challenges

The International Labour Organization (ILO), together with the Institute for Human Development, has released a large-scale analysis of available data regarding employment in India since 2000. For the years up to 2012, this survey has relied on the "Employment and Unemployment Survey"; and, for data between 2019 and 2022, the report has considered the National Statistical Office's Periodic Labour Force Survey as its primary source. Given that these data sources have already been described at length, the empirical content of the report is familiar: Stagnant real wages in the formal sector; a recent return to agricultural employment; and a female labour participation rate, which was first declining but has more recently turned up but is driven mainly by self-employment and unpaid family work; and far too many educated young people out of jobs. The ILO has done a good job integrating two otherwise incompatible surveys, but given the familiarity of the data, the main interest of the report lies in its conclusions and recommendations.