The payroll data of the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) released on Friday show that as many as 17.01 lakh new employees were added in December 2024 while 20,360 new establishments were brought under the social security ambit of the ESI Scheme during the month, ensuring social security to more workers.
Out of the total 17.01 lakh employees added during the month, 8.22 lakh employees amounting to around 48.35 per cent of the total registrations belong to the age group of up to 25 years which constitute new registrations for those into their first jobs, the Ministry of Labour and Employment said.
Also, the gender-wise analysis of the payroll data indicates that the net enrolment of female members has been 3.46 lakh in December. Besides, a total of 73 transgender employees have also got registered under the ESI Scheme during the month.
The ESIC payroll data comes close on heels of the figures released by the Ministry of Statistics earlier this week which show that Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in India’s urban areas among persons of age 15 years and above has risen to 50.4 per cent in quarter October-December 2024 from 49.9 per cent in the same quarter of the previous year. This reflects an increase in employment in the country.
LFPR for males of age 15 years and above in urban areas increased to 75.4 per cent during October-December 2024 from 74.1 per cent during the same quarter in 2023, reflecting overall increasing trend in male LFPR. LFPR among females of age 15 years and above for urban areas increased to 25.2 per cent during the quarter from 25 per cent in the same period of the preceding year.
The Worker Population Ratio (WPR), which is another indicator of employment, also went up in urban areas among people of age 15 years to 47.2 per cent in October-December 2024 from the 46.6 period in the same quarter of 2023.
WPR for males of age 15 years and above for urban areas increased to 70.9 per cent during the quarter from 69.8 per cent in the same period of the previous year, reflecting an overall increasing trend in male WPR.
The figures also show that the unemployment rate in urban areas among people of age 15 years and above decreased from 6.5 per cent during October-December 2023 to 6.4 per cent during October-December 2024.
