How people view the job market, and more news in numbers

<10%: The share of female founders of startups in India founded between 2007 and 2015, per an OECD report based on Crunchbase data. But other countries are not much far ahead either. The figure for the US stands at 13.2%, Singapore 12%, China 11.7%, while for Japan it was as low as 5.7%.

What experts say: “At best, female founders represent less than a third of all startup founders (globally). Raising capital is even more difficult for female-owned firms. Even if funded, they receive on average 23% less funding than male-led startups, even after controlling for the location and the nature of the startup, as well as for the education level and professional background of startup founders,” the report states. Ankita Vashishta, founder of Saha Fund, which focuses on promoting women entrepreneurs, agrees. “I feel women-centric companies or products are not understood well. There are very few female venture capitalists and so there is a lack of women on the other side of the table. There is a need to create opportunities for women participation in the workforce.”

$1.64 billion: Uber India’s annualised booking rate in the third quarter this year, according to media reports citing an internal company email. Gross bookings reflect the income before paying out the drivers.

For every 10 trips made by the San Francisco-based ride-hailing firm, more than one happens in India. India is Uber’s only major market in Asia after the company bowed out of China and sold its Southeast Asian business to rival Grab.

What experts say: More Indians are hailing cabs than ever. As many as 700 million cab rides were recorded in India in 2017 as compared to less than 100 million in 2014. Despite Uber’s scorching growth, Ola still enjoys a lead in terms of market share. Alok Shende, Managing Director of Ascentius Insights says Ola has an edge over Uber because of its local market knowledge.  “It is the same as in the case of Flipkart and Amazon. The key aspect that helped Flipkart, particularly in tier 2, tier 3, cities, is that they were aligned to the local market realities. Ola has stronger capacity to drive growth and streamline the supply side. For Uber, a lot of the decisions are driven by their global headquarters and so they don’t have the same kind of flexibility,” he said.

$80 billion: The expected total remittance into India in 2018, up 15% from last year.

India is likely to retain its top rank among remittance recipients this year as well, ahead of China ($67 billion), Mexico and the Philippines ($34 billion each), and Egypt ($26 billion), a World Bank report says. One reason for the surge in inward remittances is the Kerala floods in August, which prompted migrants to send more money to families back home.

What experts say: “The growth in remittances is stronger-than-expected due to recent economic developments: an improved job market in the United States and a rebound in remittance outflows from some Gulf Cooperation Council countries and the Russian Federation,” says Dilip Ratha, lead economist at the World Bank.

47.2%: The share of respondents in the RBI consumer confidence survey (for November) who feel employment opportunities have worsened. In the same year-ago period,45.8% respondents were bearish about employment.

Worryingly, more than 46% of the respondents expect the employment scenario to deteriorate or remain the same a year from now. Right after the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, 36% people believed employment opportunities had improved. That number stands at 33.9% now.

What experts say: “High oil prices and a weaker rupee had a huge role to play given that the survey was carried out in cities. My feeling is, it will improve in the next survey given that oil prices have fallen and the rupee has appreciated,” said Vivek Kaul, economic commentator and author of the Easy Money trilogy.

> ? 700 crore: The estimated cost of Isha Ambani and Anand Piramal’s wedding celebrations, per Bloomberg, though “a person close to the family” said the amount would not be more than ?108 crore. Media reports suggest the two families took over at least five 5-star hotels in Udaipur and more than 100 chartered flights were deployed for guests’. The guest list: Hillary Clinton, Ratan Tata, Bollywood stars and politicians such as Pranab Mukherjee and Rajnath Singh. From vendors in cottage industry to formal enterprises, the plus side is such weddings create jobs and boost the economy of places.

Interestingly, the Delhi government is working on a policy to limit the number of guests at extravagant weddings in order to curb food wastage.

How much is that money, really? Prince Charles and Princess Diana’s wedding 37 years ago cost $110 million, adjusted for inflation.

What does this translate into in terms of public spending? To put it in perspective, the government’s National Clean Air Programme has been allocated a budget of under ?700 crore. About ?630 crore was earmarked towards infrastructure facilities for the judiciary including construction of court buildings and residential complexes for judges in this year’s Budget.

Do these numbers surprise you? Which other industries would you like us to track in the coming weeks? Join the conversation.