Unemployment Rate At 5.1% In April, Finds Maiden Monthly Labour Force Survey

Unemployment rate in India was at 5.1% among persons of age 15 years and above in April 2025, as per the periodic labour force survey. The survey is the first monthly bulletin after the Ministry of Statistics revamped it to address the requirement of high frequency labour market indicators with enhanced coverage.

The male unemployment rate was higher at 5.2% compared to the female unemployment rate of 5% at the countrywide level, according to the survey's findings.

The inaugural monthly PLFS data offers a significantly improved window in understanding the labour force dynamics of India, said Paras Jasrai, economist at India Ratings. Although the overall headline unemployment rate is low at 5.1%, the rural-urban gap is indicative of the job creation pressures in the urban areas, he explained.

While the rural unemployment rate is at 4.5%, urban unemployment rate stood at 6.5%, the survey showed.

Key Findings:

• Labour force participation rate in current weekly status among persons of age 15 years and above was 55.6% during April 2025. LFPR is defined as the percentage of persons in labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population. LFPR in rural areas was 58% and LFPR in urban areas was 50.7% during the month for persons of the same age group.

• LFPR for male of age 15 years and above in rural and urban areas was 79% and 75.3%, respectively. LFPR among female in the same age group was 38.2% in rural areas.

• Worker population ratio in rural areas among persons of age 15 years and above was 55.4%. WPR is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population. WPR in urban areas among persons of the same age group was 47.4% with the overall WPR at the country level observed as 52.8%.

• WPR for female of age 15 years and above for rural and urban areas 36.8% and 23.5%, respectively, in April, 2025 and the overall female WPR of the same age group at the country level was observed as 32.5%.