More than six lakh Indians have lost their jobs in the duration of just four months after the economic crisis has hit Indian shores in the month of Oct'08.



According to the Economic survey, about five lakh people lost their jobs in the October-December 2008 period, while over one lakh were shed in January this year, the Economic Survey said.



In September, the crisis turned severe following the bankruptcy of American financial services major Lehman Brothers. Since then, millions of jobs have been shed worldwide, as companies resorted to massive layoffs as part of their cost cutting measures.



According to the survey conducted by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, during the three months from October to December 2008, there was a decline in employment of about half a million workers. Among the sectors, the most hit by the financial turmoil are gems and jewellery, transport and automobiles.





"The most affected sectors were gems and jewellery, transport and automobiles where employment has declined by 8.58 percent, 4.03 percent and 2.42 percent, respectively during the period (October to December 2008)," report said.



However, the survey conducted by the Labour Bureau for the January-March period showed improvement in the employment scenario in selected sectors. The Labour Bureau survey, which covered 3,192 units, indicated improvement in the selected sectors with employment rising by a "quarter million".



"Sectors registering increased employment were gems and jewellery (3.08 percent), textiles (0.96 percent), IT-BPO (0.82 percent), handloom-powerloom (0.56 percent) and automobile (0.10 percent)," the Survey said quoting the Labour Bureau.



In the Eleventh Five Year Plan (2007-12), about 58 million employment opportunities are projected to be created and the unemployment rate is anticipated to fall below five per cent.