Key Points

The worker participation rate (WPR), another indicator of employment, among persons of age 15 years and above increased to 54.4 per cent in rural areas during July this year from the corresponding figure of 53.3 per cent observed in June 2025.

WPR in urban areas also registered a marginal increase to 47.0 per cent in July 2025 from 46.8 per cent in June 2025 for persons of the same age group, the data showed. This supports the LFPR figures of an increase in employment.

WPR for rural female of age 15 years and above was 35.5 per cent in July 2025 as compared to 23.5 per cent observed for urban female. The overall female WPR of the same age group at the country level was 31.6 per cent during the month.

The unemployment rate among persons of age 15 years and above declined to 5.2 per cent in July 2025 from 5.6 per cent in June 2025.

During July 2025, LFPR in rural areas and urban areas was 56.9 per cent and 50.7 per cent, respectively for persons of the same age group.

LFPR in CWS for rural male of age 15 years and above was 78.1 per cent whereas the LFPR for urban male of the same age group was 75.1 per cent during July, 2025.

LFPR among rural female of the same age group increased to 36.9 per cent during July 2025, up from to 35.2 per cent reported during June 2025, the figures showed.

The sampling methodology of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) was revamped from January 2025, considering the need to generate high-frequency labour force indicators with wider coverage.

The redesigned PLFS aims to generate key employment and unemployment indicators - namely Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and Unemployment Rate (UR) - every month for both rural and urban areas at the all-India level under the Current Weekly Status (CWS).

It also aims to extend the Quarterly PLFS results to rural areas, thereby producing quarterly estimates of labour market indicators for both rural and urban India under the CWS framework. Besides, it provides annual estimates of key employment and unemployment indicators in both usual status and Current Weekly Status (CWS) for rural as well as urban areas.

Unemployment Rate (UR) for both males and females of age 15 years and above was recorded as 5.4 per cent during the quarter April-June quarter of 2025.

The overall rural UR was lower at 4.8 per cent compared to the UR of 6.8 per cent observed for the urban areas in April- June 2025 quarter.

By industry of work, the agriculture sector engaged the majority of rural workers (44.6 per cent of men and 70.9 per cent of women), while the tertiary sector was the largest source of employment in urban areas (60.6 per cent of men and 64.9 per cent of women). On average, 56.4 crore persons (aged 15 years and above) were employed in the country during this quarter, of which 39.7 crore were men and 16.7 crore were women, according to the ministry data.

- IANS