At least 3.2 million salaried people lost their jobs in July despite the ebbing of the pandemic’s second wave and improved economic activity underscoring structural weakness in core sectors.
Some 76.49 million people were employed in salaried jobs by July-end, lower than the 79.7 million people in June, showed latest data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE).
Of the total salaried jobs lost, about 2.6 million are from urban India where the number of salaried people fell from 48.71 million in June to 46.15 million in July.
Meanwhile, the number of small traders and wage labourers inched up to 30.42 million, or almost 2.4 million more than June, while three million farmers were added in July to 2.16 million.
Labour economists said structural weakness of the jobs market is a factor behind the job losses in July.
As per CMIE, while 76.49 million people had salaried jobs in July, the figure was 86 million in July 2019.
Consumer Pyramids Household Survey data of CMIE indicates that a V-shaped recovery is underway again after the second wave of Covid-19 but it would be wise to wait for more data before reaching any conclusion on recovery, CMIE said.