The rate of unemployment in India, measured in monthly term for the first time, stood at 5.1 per cent in April this year, showed government data released on Thursday. The decision to release the first monthly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) is part of efforts of the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation to monitor the proportion of unemployed people among those eligible for jobs in the country in real time.
The latest data collected in current weekly status (CWS) showed that unemployment rate for persons of all ages during April 2025 worked out to be 5.1 per cent in April 2025. According to the last data, India’s unemployment rate for the 2023-24 period (July 2023 - June 2024) was recorded at 3.2 per cent.
CWS refers to the activity status determined on the basis of a reference period of last 7 days preceding the date of survey.
Until now, the labour force survey was released on a quarterly and annual basis. However, considering the need for high-frequency labour force indicators with enhanced coverage, the sampling methodology of PLFS was revamped from January 2025.
Across the country, a total of 7,511 first-stage sampling units were surveyed during April 2025. The number of households surveyed was 89,434 (49,323 in rural areas and 40,111 in urban areas) and number of persons surveyed was 3,80,838 (2,17,483 in rural areas and 1,63,355 in urban areas).
The pace of joblessness among men stayed slightly higher at 5.2 per cent compared to that of women at 5 per cent. Clubbed together, joblessness among those in the age group of 15-29 was 13.8 per cent across the country. The rate of unemployment in urban areas, meanwhile, stood at 17.2 per cent, while it was 12.3 per cent in rural areas.
The study further showed that unemployment rate (UR) among women in the age group of 15-29 was 14.4 across the country (rural and urban), while it was 23.7 in cities and 10.7 per cent in villages. In contrast, joblessness among men aged 15-29 years was recorded at 13.6 per cent in the country, while it was 15 per cent in cities and 13 per cent in villages.
The data also showed that Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) among people aged 15 years and above was 55.6 per cent during April 2025 – it was 79 per cent in males in rural areas and 75.3 per cent in males in urban areas. LFPR refers to the percentage of persons in labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population.
The participation rate in rural areas was 58.0 per cent while it was 50.7 per cent in urban areas. Among females aged 15 years and above, the rate of labour force participation was 38.2 per cent for rural areas during April 2025.
Worker Population Ratio (WPR) – which defines the proportion of those who are employed among total population – in rural areas among those aged 15 years and above was 55.4 per cent in April, the data further showed.
WPR among females aged 15 years and above in rural and urban areas were 36.8 per cent and 23.5 per cent respectively. The overall female WPR of the same age group at the country level was 32.5 per cent.
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