New Delhi: Employment in India’s unincorporated non-agricultural sector saw a modest, yet resilient, rise in the July-September quarter, according to data from the ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI) released on Tuesday.

The latest quarterly estimates show that the number of unincorporated establishments edged up to about 7.97 crore in the July-September quarter, from 7.94 crore in the April-June period, a marginal gain but building on a sharp increase from the previous annual estimate of roughly 7.34 crore establishments for 2023-24.

Employment in the sector stood at approximately 12.86 crore, a slight increase from the prior quarter yet noticeably higher than the more than 12 crore workers reported in the 2023–24 annual survey.

The data, drawn from the National Statistics Office’s latest Quarterly Bulletin on Unincorporated Sector Enterprises, underscores the sector’s resilience at a time of uncertain global trade and economic pressures, the MoSPI survey said.

“Despite global challenges and trade uncertainties, the unincorporated sector stayed afloat during the July–September quarter,” it added.

Subtle, meaningful shifts

Beyond the headline figures, the bulletin signals subtle and meaningful shifts in the sector’s composition.

Internet use among enterprises increased steadily, rising to 39% in July–September from 36% in the previous quarter, indicating an acceleration in digital adoption, even among small, often informal operators.

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The recovery in unincorporated manufacturing stood out as both establishment counts and employment shares improved, with manufacturing’s share of establishments rising to 27% from 26% and its share of employment to 28% from 26% over the quarter. Women also continued to form a substantial portion of the workforce, accounting for nearly 29% of total employment during the latest quarter.

The quarterly release of data for the unincorporated sector is part of a broader push by official statisticians to provide higher‑frequency data on India’s vast informal economy.

Urban workforce

However, the quarterly bulletin serves as a more frequent complement to the annual survey of the same segment, which was introduced to provide policymakers and researchers with timely insights into short-term movements.

Urban employment also increased, with the urban workforce rising to about 6.91 crore from 6.61 crore in the previous quarter, indicating greater labour absorption in cities.

“Many unincorporated manufacturing units depend on casual labour, migrant workers, and helpers who often shift to seasonal agricultural work in the preceding quarter and return when manufacturing activity strengthens, leading to a rise in employment rather than in the number of establishments,” the MoSPI survey said. A total of 5,880 first-stage units were covered by MoSPI for the July–September 2025 survey round, comprising 2,419 villages and 3,461 urban blocks, according to the ministry.

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The survey covered most parts of India, excluding a few hard-to-access locations such as the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, Ladakh and select districts in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland.

From this sample frame, 1,65,842 establishments were ultimately surveyed, including 71,925 in rural areas and 93,917 in urban centres, MoSPI said.

“To enable the shift to quarterly estimates, the overall sample size was boosted by roughly 1.5x compared with the earlier ASUSE (Annual Survey of Unincorporated Sector Enterprises) rounds, and the survey design was refined to yield more robust, reliable and timely quarterly data,” it added.

Industrial output

To be sure, India’s high-frequency indicators for Q2 FY26 point to broad-based economic strength, led by robust PMI readings, with manufacturing averaging around 58.7 and services about 61.4 during the quarter, signalling strong expansion across sectors.

Meanwhile, industrial output also improved, with the Index of Industrial Production (IIP) and manufacturing showing steady year-on-year gains during the quarter.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has estimated the gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the second quarter to be 7%.

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“Employment and activity in India’s unincorporated, non-agricultural sector recorded a mild uptick in the July–September quarter, up to 7.97 crore from 7.94 crore in the previous quarter, and employment rose to 12.86 crore. Although these quarter-on-quarter gains are modest, both indicators stand well above the FY24 annual estimates, suggesting continued recovery and resilience in the informal economy amid global headwinds,” said Manoranjan Sharma, chief economist at Infomerics Ratings.

“Still, the welcome improvement should not obscure persistent structural challenges, such as low productivity, under-employment, and the sector’s dependence on absorbing labour when formal job creation lags. A more complete picture would require sector-wise detail, financial indicators, and wage data,” he added.