Experts said that there was a shift in the nature of jobs, instead of job loss, after the government decided to demonetise currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 on November 8 last year.

“In the organised sector, there was an uptick in employment of fulltime workers who were paid by cheques or through bank accounts but the number of contract and casual workers, paid by cash, declined during this phase,” said Pronab Sen, country director, IGC’s India Central Programme and former chief statistician to the government.

Among contract workers, there was a slowing in job creation in the manufacturing, trade and IT sectors. And, job losses in construction, transport, accommodation and education. The pace of job creation among contract workers slowed in all sectors, except health, during January-March this year.

Construction sector workers grew 2,000 in January-March, against a dip of 1,000 the previous quarter. The manufacturing sector saw 102,000 more jobs, as against 83,000 the previous quarter. Further, the accommodation and restaurant segment saw job creation for the first time in three quarters, the survey showed.

While of job creation remained stagnant in the IT sector, it slowed in the education sector. New jobs there stood at 2,000, compared to 18,000 in the October-December period.