India’s unemployment rate for those aged 15 and above rose marginally to 5.2% in September from 5.1% in August, reflecting a small but persistent strain in both rural and urban labour markets. The latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the Ministry of Statistics on Wednesday paints a mixed picture: more people entering the workforce, but not enough jobs being created to absorb them.
Unemployment in rural areas climbed to 4.6% in September from 4.3% in August, while urban joblessness increased to 6.8% from 6.7%, underscoring continued stress in city-based employment.
The gender divide widened further. In urban India, unemployment among women rose to 9.3%, up from 8.9% in August, while joblessness among men increased slightly to 6% from 5.9%. In rural regions, female unemployment inched up to 5.5%, compared with 5.2% a month earlier, and male unemployment climbed to 4.7% from 4.5%.
The PLFS measures joblessness using the current weekly status (CWS) approach — meaning a person is considered unemployed if they did not work for even one hour on any day during the reference week, but were actively seeking or available for work during that period. The framework offers a snapshot of short-term employment trends rather than annual averages.
The labour force participation rate (LFPR) — which tracks the share of people either working or actively seeking work — showed only a marginal uptick. For those aged 15 and above, the LFPR rose slightly to 55.3% in September from 55% in August. In rural areas, it edged up to 57.4%, while urban participation remained unchanged at 50.9%.
Despite this improvement, participation continues to be heavily skewed by gender. Among rural men aged 15 and above, LFPR stood at 78.1%, compared with 37.9% for women. In urban India, 75.3% of men were part of the labour force against just 26.1% of women, a gap that remains one of the widest among major emerging economies.
The worker population ratio (WPR), which represents the proportion of employed individuals in the population, stood at 52.4% nationwide in September. The divide persisted here too: rural India recorded a WPR of 54.8%, compared with 47.4% in urban regions. Among men, rural WPR was 74.4% versus 70.8% in cities, while for women it was 36.3% in rural areas and 23.7% in urban ones.
The figures highlight India’s dual employment challenge — strong male participation but persistently low female engagement, particularly in urban centres. Economists say this pattern limits the country’s demographic dividend. Although rural employment has shown resilience due to agriculture and self-employment, city job markets remain vulnerable to economic slowdowns and automation-led restructuring.
The ministry emphasised that the PLFS data is drawn from a large-scale household survey. In September alone, around 7,500 first-stage units (FSUs) were surveyed, covering 89,291 households and 375,703 individuals across rural and urban India. The updated framework also allows for monthly data releases, improving timeliness and transparency.
As part of this shift, the ministry has started publishing monthly estimates of unemployment, LFPR and WPR, based on the CWS approach. It said the survey between April and September 2025 included data from both initial and revisited samples — ensuring continuity and comparability across months.
While the marginal rise in the jobless rate may not yet signal distress, it does expose the structural imbalance between job creation and population growth. Women, especially in urban areas, continue to face barriers to formal employment, while rural underemployment remains a silent drag.
For policymakers, the numbers serve as a reminder that India’s economic growth story needs an equally strong employment engine. The challenge isn’t merely about creating jobs — it’s about making them accessible, inclusive, and future-ready.
