Here are the sectors that added the most jobs to the Indian economy last summer

• Manufacturing added 89,000 jobs between July and September 2017.
  
• The estimates were provided in the government’s Quarterly Employment Survey, which covers a sample of 5% of India’s total workforce.
  
• Education and Health added the most jobs in the April-September period last year.
  

Manufacturing became the top job generating sector followed by education and transportation between July and September 2017. As India attempts to tackle its unemployment crisis, it will need the manufacturing industry to keep growing.

Around 136,000 jobs were added to India’s economy. Manufacturing accounted for an overwhelming majority of the net additions, with 89,000 jobs followed by the education and transportation sectors with 21,000 and 20,000 jobs, respectively.

All sectors reported job growth except construction, which lost 22,000 workers.

The estimates were provided in the Quarterly Employment Survey released by India’s Labour Bureau on March 12th. The survey, which is only the seventh conducted so far, comprises findings from eight major sectors of the economy excluding agriculture and covers establishments with 10 or more employees- resulting in a total sample of 24 million workers in the formal sector.

This is roughly 5% of India’s estimated workforce.

74,000 of the new jobs were taken by women, and around half of the net additions were for full-time roles. The trade sector added 14,000 jobs while the health sector added 11,000.

The survey results for the July-September quarter mark a significant improvement from April-June 2017, when only 64,000 jobs were added. The manufacturing sector actually reported a reduction of 87,000 jobs between April and June last year. GDP growth over the quarter slumped to a three-year of 5.7% amid the “destocking” of inventory by businesses in anticipation of the goods and services tax (GST). Distributors and retailers actively reduced their inventory as consumers postponed their purchases, expecting better prices after the new tax was implemented.

Meanwhile education and health reported the highest number of additions, at 99,000, given the onset of the new school year, and 31,000, respectively. Women accounted for 80% of the net additions between April and June, as a result of the strong showing from the education sector.

After combining the results, the education sector was found to have added the most jobs to the Indian economy between April and September 2017, with 120,000 new workers. The health sector came in second place with 42,000 new jobs.

The manufacturing industry is likely to maintain its job generating power in the near term as the negative effects of the demonetisation and GST taper off. The latest index of industrial production showed a growth of 7.5% in January 2018, a third successive monthly increase owing to a surge in the production of consumer durables and capital goods.