Formal job creation under the Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) in India reached a record high in July, with the addition of 1.87 million net subscribers. This surge in formal jobs marks a significant increase compared to the 1.01 million net new subscribers added in June and the 1.82 million subscribers added in July 2022, according to the labour ministry. On the other hand, formal jobs created under the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) fell by 1.9% to 1.98 million in July, down from the 2.02 millionjobs created in June. However, ESIC had added 2.02 million subscribers in May and 1.78 million formal workers in April. The provisional payroll data for EPFO and ESIC released by the labour ministry also revealed a trend of increasing youth employment. Out of the 1.87 million workers added to EPFO in July, 58.4% (1.02 million) were new joinees in the 18-25 years age bracket. The labour ministry mentioned that this increase in youth employment indicates that more first-time job seekers are entering the organized sector workforce in the country. Additionally, around 1.27 million members exited but rejoined EPFO in July, which is the highest in the last 12 months. These members opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement, thus extending their social security protection. The analysis of EPFO payroll data also highlighted the gender-wise distribution of new members. In July 2023, around 0.38 million female members were added to EPFO, with 0.27 million of them receiving social security coverage for the first time. In terms of states, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Haryana, and Gujarat had the highest net member additions, accounting for 58.78% of the total addition. Maharashtra alone added 20.4% of net members during the month. The payroll data also disclosed that around 27,870 new establishments were registered and brought under the social security umbrella of the Employees’ State Insurance Corporation in July. Under ESIC, employees up to 25 years of age constituted 47.9% of the total workforce in the formal sector, with approximately 0.95 million youth workers out of the total 1.98 million added in July. Further, the ministry highlighted that 52 transgender employees also got registered under the ESI scheme in July. However, it is important to note that the EPFO payroll data is provisional, as data generation and employee record updates are continuous processes. The EPFO is India’s principal organization responsible for providing social security benefits to the organized and semi-organized sector workforce covered under the EPF & MP Act, 1952.