MOSL: ECOSCOPE-Employment grew 2.03% in FY17-Notwithstanding demonetization, employment gains quickened during 2HFY17

​A. ECOSCOPE: - Employment grew 2.03% in FY17; Notwithstanding demonetization, employment gains quickened during 2HFY17

As against a total addition of 231,000 jobs in three first three quarters of FY17, eight selected sectors that constitute ~81% of the total employment of units with 10 or more workers, added 185,000 jobs in 4QFY17. In total, employment increased from 20.52m at FY16-end to 20.94m at FY17-end, implying a growth of 2%.

With real non-farm GVA growth (excluding public administration & defense) of ~6% in FY17, employment elasticity turns out to be ~0.33x, lower than the average of 0.46x in the recent decade (ending FY15).

Within FY17, while employment - according to Labor Bureau's quarterly employment survey (QES) - increased only 109,000 (equivalent to 1.5m annualized) in 1HFY17, the pace of employment gains almost trebled to 307,000 (=4.1m annualized) in 2HFY17. It implies that employment growth trebled from 1.1% annualized in 1HFY17 to 3% in 2HFY17. Demonetization, thus, failed to hurt employment generation in the economy.