Net employment generation in the formal sector stood at 7.39 lakh in October, shows data released by the Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Tuesday. As per the latest data, 4.37 lakh jobs were created in the same month last year, while 9.48 lakh EPF subscribers were added in September 2019.

Around 1.32 crore new subscribers were added to social security schemes of the EPFO from September 2017 to October 2019, the data showed. This indicates that these many jobs were created in the formal sector over the past 26 months. Of this, 15.53 lakh jobs were created between September 2017 to March 2018. A net of 61.12 lakh jobs were created in FY19, while 55.64 lakh jobs have been created in current fiscal till October 2019.

The average EPFO enrolment stood at 5.08 lakh, while it has been experiencing declining trend for the last three months.

The EPFO, however, revised its payroll data for September 2019 slightly downwards by 49,516, against the earlier estimate of 9.98 lakh released last month. In the current fiscal, the sharpest revision was reported in August 2019, which showed contraction or exit of 97,169 members from the EPFO subscriptions. As per the latest release, there has been a downward revision of 3.89 lakh jobs in FY20.

The number of members who have exited is calculated on the basis of the claims submitted by the individuals and establishments and the exit data uploaded by employers, whereas the number of new subscribers is based on the Universal Account Number (UAN) generated in the system and those who have received non-zero subscription.

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EPFO said the data is provisional as updation of employee records is a continuous process and gets updated in subsequent months.

In the month of October 2019, maximum 2.04 lakh jobs were created in the age group 22-25, followed by 1.92 lakh jobs in the age group 18-21. In the age group 29-35, 1.29 lakh jobs were created and 1.16 lakh jobs in above 35 age group. In the age group 26-28, a total of 0.92 lakh jobs were created, followed by 4,267 in below 18 age group.

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In 2019-20, the highest number of 9.72 lakh net jobs was created during the month of July, while the least number of 5.22 lakh jobs was created in May, as per the EPFO data.

While EPFO has been providing information on new workforce since April 2018, it has been covering the period starting September 2017. The estimates may include temporary employees whose contributions may not be continuous for the entire year. The EPFO manages social security funds of workers in the organised and semi-organised sector in India and has more than 6 crore active members.