- A cause for concern is the deceleration in the compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of employment during 2004-05 to 2011-12 to 0.5% from 2.8% during 1999-2000 to 2004-05 as against CAGRs of 2.9% and 0.4% respectively in the labour force for the same periods.
- As per the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data during 1999-2000 to 2004-05, employment on usual status (US) basis increased by 59.9 million persons from 398.0 million to 457.9 million as against the increase in labour force by 62.0 million persons from 407.0 million to 469.0 million. After a period of slow progress during 2004-05 to 2009-10, employment generation picked up during 2009-10 to 2011-12, adding 13.9 million persons to the workforce, but not keeping pace with the increase in labour force (14.9 million persons).
- Based on current daily status (CDS), CAGR in employment was 1.2% and 2.6% against 2.8% and 0.8% in the labour force respectively for the same periods.
- There have also been structural changes: for the first time, the share of the primary sector in total employment has dipped below the halfway mark (declined from 58.5% in 2004-05 to 48.9% in 2011-12), while employment in the secondary and tertiary sectors increased to 24.3% and 26.8% respectively in 2011-12 from 18.1% and 23.4% respectively in 2004-05. Self-employment continues to dominate, with a 52.2% share in total employment.
- In order to improve generation of productive employment under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the Intensive and Participatory Planning Exercise (IPPE) has been initiated to prepare the labour budget for financial year 2015-16 in selected 2500 backward blocks using participatory rural appraisal technique.
- However data from the sixty-eighth NSSO round (2011-12) indicates a revival in employment growth in manufacturing from 11% in 2009-10 to 12.6% in 2011-12. This is significant given that the National Manufacturing Policy 2011 has set a target of creating 100 million jobs by 2022.
- Although total informal employment increased by 9.5 million to 435.7 million between 2004-05 and 2011-12, it is significant that informal unorganized-sector employment declined by 5.8 million to 390.9 million, leading to an increase in informal organized-sector employment by 15.2 million. Consequently the share of unorganized labour has declined from 87% to 82.7%.
- The US unemployment rate is generally regarded as the measure of chronic open unemployment during the reference year; while the CDS is considered a comprehensive measure of unemployment, including both chronic and invisible unemployment.
