Labour Ministry Rebuts Citigroup Report on Employment Forecast

The Labour Ministry has dismissed Citigroup's report which predicted struggles for India in job creation despite a 7% growth rate, citing comprehensive employment data from official sources like the PLFS and RBI's KLEMS. The ministry argued that official data reflects significant employment growth, contrary to Citigroup's findings.

The Labour Ministry on Monday refuted a recent report by Citigroup that forecast a grim outlook for India's job creation prospects, even with a 7% growth rate.

The ministry argued that Citigroup's report overlooks substantial employment data from official sources such as the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) and the Reserve Bank of India's KLEMS data. According to this data, over 8 crore (80 million) jobs have been generated from 2017-18 to 2021-22, averaging over 2 crore (20 million) jobs per year.

The Ministry emphasized that these numbers contradict Citigroup's assertion. Furthermore, indicators such as the Labour Force Participation Rate, Worker Population Ratio, and Unemployment Rate have shown improvement. The Unemployment Rate, for instance, declined from 6% in 2017-18 to 3.2% in 2022-23. The ministry cautioned against relying on private data sources, which may not align with national or international standards, as they could lead to misleading conclusions.

(With inputs from agencies.)