India's unemployment rate fell marginally at 4.9% in February, the data released by the Ministry of Statistics showed on Monday.
The rural Unemployment Rate (UR) remained unchanged at 4.2%, 2025, coupled with a fall in urban UR from 7% to 6.6%, resulted in overall stability in the unemployment rate among persons aged 15 years and above, the Ministry said.
The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for persons of age 15 years and above was stable at 55.9% in February. The LFPR is the percentage of a country's working-age population that is either employed or actively looking for work.
The LFPR in rural areas and urban areas has also steadied at 58.7% and 55.9%, respectively.
Moreover, the participation of female in labour force observed consistent increase for persons aged 15 years and above. The overall LFPR increased marginally to 35.3% in February driven by the steady rise in female LFPR in rural and urban areas.
The UR among female declined to 5.1% in February from 5.6% in January. The drop in UR among urban female mainly contributed towards decline in overall female UR.
The overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in February stood at 53.2%. The WPR for the urban and rural persons was also steady in the last month.
The Periodic Labour Force Survey is conducted by the National Statistics Office under MoSPI and is the primary source of data on activity participation and employment unemployment condition of the population.
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