Employment fell marginally in 2020-21 due to the pandemic but gained momentum in 2021-22 with 7 per cent year-on-year growth in the manufacturing sector, according to the Annual Survey of Industries. "In fact, the estimated number of persons engaged in this (manufacturing) sector in 2021-22 has exceeded the pre-pandemic level (that is 2018-19) by more than 9.35 lakh," a Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) statement said. At the same time, it added that average emoluments also registered an increase. Average salary earned per employee in this sector had gone up by 1.7 per cent in 2020-21 and 8.3 per cent in 2021-22, in comparison to respective previous years, it explained. "Due to the Covid pandemic, there had been a marginal fall in employment in 2020-21, which was more than compensated in the subsequent year i.e. in 2021-22, with total estimated employment in the sector showing a robust growth of 7.0 per cent year-on-year (Y-o-Y)," it said. The number of .