Unemployment Rate
India's unemployment rate eases to 3.1% in 2025 from 3.2% in 2024
This story was originally published at 17:09 IST on 27 March 2026
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--MoSPI: India unemployment rate 3.1% in 2025 vs 3.2% in 2024
--CONTEXT: MoSPI releases Periodic Labour Force Survey for 2025
--MoSPI: India rural unemployment rate 2.4% in 2025 vs 2.5% in 2024
--MoSPI: India urban unemployment rate 4.8% in 2025 vs 5.0% in 2024
--MoSPI: India labour force participation rate 59.3% in 2025 vs 59.6 24
--MoSPI: India worker population ratio rate 57.4% in 2025 vs 57.7 24
NEW DELHI – India's unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above eased slightly to 3.1% in 2025 from 3.2% in 2024, with joblessness easing both in rural and urban areas, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey released by the statistics ministry Friday.
The unemployment rate in rural areas moderated to 2.4% in 2025 from 2.5% a year ago. For urban areas, it fell to a four-year low of 4.8% last year from 5.0% in 2024. The unemployment rate remained steady at 3.1% for females at an all-India level, and fell by 20 basis points for males to 3.1%.
The labour force participation rate--the percentage of persons working or seeking or available for work--fell to a three-year low of 59.3% in 2025 from 59.6% in 2024. The labour force participation rate was higher in rural areas at 62.8% compared with urban areas at 52.2%.
The overall female labour force participation rate in 2025 fell to 40.0% from 40.3% a year ago. The female labour force participation rate was also much lower than the male participation rate of 79.1% in 2025, which moderated from 79.2% in 2024.
The worker population ratio, which is the percentage of employed persons in the population, fell to a three-year low of 57.4% in 2025 from 57.7% in 2024.
The overall unemployment rate, as measured by the current weekly status, rose to a three-year high of 5.3% last year from 4.9% in 2024. The activity status determined on the basis of a reference period of the last seven days preceding the date of the survey is known as the current weekly status of the person.
The unemployment rate of 3.1% was based on the usual status method, which measures a person's activity status during the last 365 days preceding the date of survey. The unemployment rate in usual status among educated persons fell to 6.5% in 2025 from 7.0% in 2024 in the age group 15 years and above.
The proportion of workers earning regular wage or salary increased to 23.6% in 2025 from 22.4% in 2024. "Over the period, the manufacturing sector has broadly witnessed an increase in the proportion of workers engaged, while the agriculture sector has experienced a decline in the share of worker engagement," the ministry said in a release.
Nominal wages of women engaged in self-employed, regular wage or salaried employment, and casual labour grew 8.8%, 7.2%, and 5.4%, respectively, in 2025. End
Reported by Shubham Rana
Edited by Akul Nishant Akhoury
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