India’s unemployment rate, measured on a monthly basis for the first time, stood at 5.1% in April 2025, according to government data released on Thursday.
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) published the inaugural monthly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) in a move aimed at tracking real-time unemployment levels among the country’s eligible workforce.
Until now, the labour force survey was released on a quarterly as well as annual basis.
As per a media report in a national daily, 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. The pace of joblessness among men stayed slightly higher at 5.2 per cent compared to that of women at 5 per cent.
Joblessness among those in the age group of 15-29 was 13.8 percent across the country. The rate of unemployment in urban areas stood at 17.2 per cent, while it was 12.3 per cent in rural areas.
CWS refers to the activity status determined on the basis of a reference period of last 7 days preceding the date of survey.
The study further showed that unemployment rate (UR) among women in the age group of 15-29 was 14.4 across the country (rural+urban), while it was 23.7 in cities and 10.7 percent in villages.
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 percent 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.
The participation rate in rural areas was 58.0 per cent while it was 50.7 percent in urban areas.
LFPR among males aged 15 years and above in rural and urban areas were 79.0 percent and 75.3 per cent, respectively.
Among females aged 15 years and above, the rate of labour force participation was 38.2 percent for rural areas during April 2025.
LFPR refers to the percentage of persons in labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population.
Worker Population Ratio (WPR) defines the proportion of those who are employed among total population.
WPR in rural areas among those aged 15 years and above was 55.4 per cent in April, the data showed.
The ratio in urban areas was 47.4 percent, while the overall WPR at the national level was recorded at 52.8 per cent last month.
WPR among females aged 15 years and above in rural and urban areas were 36.8 percent and 23.5 per cent respectively. The overall female WPR of the same age group at the country level was 32.5 per cent.
Considering the need for high-frequency labour force indicators with enhanced coverage, the sampling methodology of PLFS has been revamped from January 2025.
Across the country, a total of 7,511 first-stage sampling units were surveyed in April 2025.
The survey covered 89,434 households—49,323 in rural areas and 40,111 in urban areas—encompassing 3,80,838 individuals, with 2,17,483 from rural regions and 1,63,355 from urban areas.