A majority of job losses were from urban regions where numbers fell from 48.71 million in June to 46.15 million in July. (Representative image: Shutterstock)

Structural weakness in core sectors led to loss of 3.2 million salaried jobs in July despite a tapering second COVID-19 wave and improvement in economic activity, data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy (CMIE) showed.

Data showed that 76.49 million people held salaried jobs till July 31 compared to 79.7 million till June 30. A majority of these were from urban regions where job losses fell from 48.71 million in June to 46.15 million in July.

In the pre-pandemic times, as many as 86 million people were employed in salaried jobs till July 2019, compared to 76.49 people in July 2021. The labour participation rate remains 2.7 percentage points lower than its pre-COVID-19 levels. The employment rate remains 3.3 percentage points lower than the pre-COVID-19 levels.

https://www.cmie.com/kommon/bin/sr.php?kall=warticle&dt=20210726180747&msec=616

The numbers reflect weak recovery in the employment market and job creation lag in the formal sector, economists said.

COVID-19 Vaccine

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COVID-19 impact: 3.2 million salaried people lose jobs in July

There is also a shift towards self-employment and casual or gig employment where reflected in the minor improvements seen for small traders and wage labourers in July

A majority of job losses were from urban regions where numbers fell from 48.71 million in June to 46.15 million in July. (Representative image: Shutterstock)

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