Employment condition

The new data set raises questions

Employment and income have always been critical issues in the Indian economy. Jobs remain a significant political issue and governments failing to create enough of them can face electoral challenges. In this regard, the recent release of the KLEMS [capital (K), labour (L), energy (E), material (M) and services (S)] database by the Reserve Bank of India has added to the debate. While the provisional estimates indicate a 6 per cent employment growth rate in 2023-24, the highest in the database, which goes back to 1980-81, a deeper industry-wise analysis for labour-intensive sectors raises some concerns. Agriculture and allied activities, the largest employment-generating sector in the economy, have consistently demonstrated the lowest labour productivity measured as value added per worker at constant prices 2011-12 among the 27 industries or sectors included in the database.