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Informist, Wednesday, Jul. 15, 2026

 

--MoSPI: India unemployment rate 5.5% in Jun vs 5.5% in May

--CONTEXT: MoSPI releases Periodic Labour Force Survey for Jun

--MoSPI: India rural unemployment rate 5.0% in Jun vs 5.1% in May

--MoSPI: India urban unemployment rate 6.6% in Jun vs 6.4% in May

--MoSPI: India labour force participation rate 54.4% in Jun vs 54.4% May

---MoSPI: India worker population ratio rate 51.4% in Jun vs 51.4% May

NEW DELHI – In June, India's unemployment rate for people aged 15 and above was unchanged from May's level of 5.5%, mainly because the fall in rural unemployment was offset by a rise in urban unemployment, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey for May released Wednesday. At 5.5%, the unemployment rate in May was at an 11-month high.

 

Rural unemployment for those aged 15 fell slightly to 5% from 5.1% in May. For urban areas, it rose to 6.6% in June, after falling to a series-low of 6.4% in May. "On a year-on-year basis, the urban unemployment rate declined from 7.1% in June, 2025 to 6.6% in June, 2026, a reduction of 0.5 percentage points," the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation said. "The overall unemployment rate and rural unemployment rate remained broadly stable over the same period," it added.

 

The difference in rural and urban unemployment rates was narrowing till May, but in June, the trend was reversed. 

 

The unemployment rate for females aged 15 and above rose to an at least 12-month high of 5.9% last month, up from 5.6% in May. The unemployment rate was higher for women in both urban and rural areas. For males, the unemployment rate fell to 5.3% in June from 5.4% a month ago.

 

The labour force participation rate--the percentage of persons working or seeking or available for work--remained unchanged from May's level of 54.4%. At 54.4%, it had eased to an 11-month low in May from 55.0% in April. The labour force participation rate was slightly higher in rural areas at 56.6% than in urban areas at 50.1%. The female labour force participation rate fell to an 12-month low of 32.7% in June from 32.8% in May.

 

The worker population ratio--the percentage of employed persons in the population--for those aged 15 and above was unchanged from May's figure of 51.4%, when it had slid to an 11-month low.  End

 

Reported by Priyasmita Dutta

Edited by Avishek Dutta

 

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