Andhra tops job creation; UP lags the most

NEW DELHI: India’s economy has been growing steadily but job creation has lagged. But it’s not enough that the economy generates jobs; it’s the quality of the jobs that matter. A significant chunk of employment is in the vulnerable informal sector and most states struggle with gender and income inequality. The State JustJobs Index, developed by the JustJobs Network, with support from Azim Premji University, shows which states are generating the best jobs and why a strong economy doesn’t necessarily translate into strong jobs numbers.

HOW STATES PERFORMED ON EACH INDICATOR
Employment
➤ Chhattisgarh and Andhra Pradesh topped on the employment indicator.
➤ Chhattisgarh’s high labour force participation, boosted by a construction boom, pushed the state to the top.
➤ Goa and Kerala had the lowest score on employment, owing to high unemployment rates, particularly among women.
➤ Kerala lags despite having the highest literacy rate in the country. But more educated people are also more likely to seek out better jobs and prefer to wait for the right job.
Formal sector jobs
➤ Employment in India ranges vulnerable workers with no contracts or in poor working conditions in the informal sector to salaried individuals
with guaranteed protections.
➤ Goa and Kerala are the top states for formality despite performing poorly in employment.
➤ UP and Jharkhand are the worst performers largely because of the scale of the informal agriculture sector as well as wholesale and retail trade sector.
Gender equality
➤ Female labour force participation has decline consistently in the last two decades.
➤ Himachal and Chhattisgarh performed the best on gender equality with relatively more parity in employment levels and wages between men and women.
➤ Bihar and UP score the lowest on this indicator.
Income equality
➤ Income inequality remains high despite long periods of economic growth being associated increased equality.
➤ Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra had the best performances on the income inequality index with their relatively high minimum wage rates and
low consumption inequality.
➤ Kerala and J&K, with high levels of consumption inequality, placed last.
Benefits
➤ Workers with social protections and collective bargaining tend to be more productive.
➤ J&K topped the benefits index with its relatively high state expenditure on pensions and Kerala with its high union membership figures.
➤ At the bottom, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh performed poorly on benefits with the share of unionised workers and those receiving benefits dropping since 2010.