Unincorporated non-agricultural sector sees 13% wage growth, 1.1 cr new jobs in 2023-24

The number of workers in the unincorporated sector was recorded at 12.06 crore in 2023-24, 10 per cent higher than the previous year, with the highest rate of growth seen in other services. The number of establishments in the other services sector recorded a growth of 23.6 per cent followed by a 13 per cent increase in the manufacturing sector.

Out of the total 12.06 crore workers, 5.61 crore workers were employed in rural areas and 6.45 crore workers were in urban areas.

Chief economic advisor V Anantha Nageswaran said that the survey shows that real emolument growth has been “significant” in the unincorporated sector in 2023-24. When asked about concerns of lower wage growth affecting urban consumption demand, Nageswaran said: “Overall urban consumption includes the listed as well unlisted corporate sector…but, as per ASUSE 2023-24, emoluments (in unincorporated sector) have grown quite well.”

As per the ASUSE, gross value added (GVA) growth of the country’s unorganised enterprises recorded a 16.5 per cent growth in 2023-24 as against 16.1 per cent growth in previous year.

“This data shows the lagged effect of growth spurt. Various policy initiatives were supportive of entrepreneurship. Government initiatives on start-up and stand-up India during Covid has allowed enterprises to grow,” Nageswaran said.

Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) Secretary Saurabh Garg said there has been an increase in labour productivity in 2023-24 as gross value added per worker registered a 5.6 per cent increase to Rs 1.5 lakh in 2023-24 from Rs 1.42 lakh in 2022-23. “There are now 7.4 crore establishments, and over 12 crore people are employed. Productivity of enterprises is also increasing,” Garg said.

The total number of establishments in the sector increased substantially to 7.34 crore in 2023-24 from 6.5 crore in 2022-23, a 12.8 per cent growth.

Also, the percentage of female-owned proprietary establishments increased to 26.2.per cent in 2023-24 from 22.9 per cent in 2022-23. “This trend indicates a positive shift in the participation of women in business ownership, highlighting an increase in female entrepreneurship over the given period,” Garg said.

The data for these non-agricultural sector enterprises is seen as a crucial jobs indicator since the informal sector is closely watched for its employment generation capacity and absorption of labour force, especially in case of a slowdown in the formal sector.