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The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation is set to launch quarterly and annual surveys on employment.
“We are in the process of getting administrative clearances. The methodology has already been finalised and the surveys should be launched soon,” said TCA Anant, the country’s Chief Statistician.
Once this is done, it is expected to bridge a major deficit in the country’s macro-economic data. The lack of frequent and regular estimates on employment and unemployment in the country is considered a major handicap by policymakers and private sector analysts, who find it difficult to calculate the impact of policies on the real-time job market.
According to the plan, the Ministry will conduct quarterly surveys in urban areas and annual surveys across the country to assess the employment and unemployment situation.
Launch a few months away While Anant declined to give more details, sources said the new survey is likely to be launched by early next year through the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO).
At present, official data on employment and unemployment across the country are released every five years by the NSSO. The last such exercise was carried out by the NSSO in 2011-12 and is at present the most current official employment data across the country.
The Labour Bureau, under the Ministry of Labour, has also been conducting a limited employment survey in eight sectors since the global financial crisis of 2008-09. It has also launched an annual jobs survey.
In contrast, employment data come out every month in developed countries such as the US and are a critical input for the Federal Reserve’s decision on its monetary policy.
Pilot carried out Preparatory work on more frequent employment surveys in the country has been on for nearly half a decade.
The Ministry had carried out pilot surveys of the labour force between July 2011 and June 2013 in Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh and Odisha, based on the recommendations of an expert panel led by Amitabh Kundu, former member of the National Statistical Commission.
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