World bank: Employment rate fell India must create 1 million jobs

New Delhi, April 17: India needs to create more than 8 million jobs a year to maintain its employment rate which has been declining over the past decade, according to the latest World Bank report.

In its biannual South Asia Economic Focus (SAEF) report released in Washington on Sunday, the multilateral lender also projected India's growth rate to rise to 7.3 percent in the ongoing fiscal.

"Every month, the working age increases by 1.3 million people and India must create 8.1 million jobs a year to maintain its employment rate, which has been declining based on employment data analysed from 2005 to 2015, largely due to women leaving the job market," the report said.

"(India's) growth is expected to accelerate from 6.7 percent in 2017 to 7.3 percent in 2018 and to subsequently stabilise supported by a sustained recovery in private investment and private consumption," it said.