Employment grew by 2.15 lakh in April-June

New Delhi: Overall employment grew by 2.15 lakh during the April-June 2011 quarter, with most sectors showing an increase except textiles, including apparels, and transport. “An upward trend in employment has been continuously observed since July 2009,” according to the Labour Bureau's quarterly quick estimates to assess the impact of the post-2008 economic slowdown on employment in the country. IT/BPO Sectors Lead The information technology and BPO sectors generated the maximum number of jobs at 1.64 lakh during June over March 2011, followed by 0.53 lakh in metals, 0.18 lakh in automobiles, 0.13 lakh in gems and jewellery, 0.01 lakh in leather and 0.01 lakh in handloom and powerloom sectors. “The maximum increase in overall employment by 1.90 lakh was seen in the direct category of workers as compared to 0.25 lakh in the contract category,” states a Ministry release. In export-oriented units, employment at the overall level rose by 0.67 lakh, while in non-exporting units, it increased by 1.48 lakh during June 2011 over March. However, compared with the last four quarterly surveys during 2010-11 (June 2011 over June 2010), overall employment increased by 10.31 lakh, with highest rise in IT/BPO (7 lakh) followed by 1.31 lakh in textiles, including apparels, 0.96 lakh in metals, 0.78 lakh in automobiles, 0.16 lakh in transport and 0.13 lakh in leather. The Labour Bureau surveyed 2,289 units and establishments spread across 11 States and Union Territories.