Growth Failing to Create Mass Non-Farm Jobs

A shortfall in formal employment has been absorbed by agriculture whose share of the working population has increased in the state

- By SAMREEN WANI

AS BIHAR CONCLUDED ITS >high-stakes assembly elections, the state's economic data reveals a persisting jobs crisis coupled with extreme regional inequality; a structural fault line defining the political contest in the state.

While the capital city Patna remains an isolated high-income hub, the shift of workforce back to agriculture across the rest of the state suggests that employment is distress driven and growth is not inclusive.

There is a significant occupational shift in Bihar's workforce. Between 2017-18 and 2023-24, the state witnessed a workforce shift from non-farm jobs. The share of persons working in the crucial services sector plummeted from 30.4 percent to 23.1 percent, while manufacturing also dipped. This massive dip has been absorbed almost entirely by the agriculture sector, whose share of the working population increased from 44.3 percent to a staggering 53.2 percent in the same period; a possible sign of underemployment and livelihood distress.