New Delhi: India’s labour market showed broad-based improvement in the October-December 2025 quarter, with higher participation, rising workforce engagement, and a moderation in overall unemployment, according to the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) quarterly bulletin released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for persons aged 15 years and above rose to 55.8% in the October-December quarter, up marginally from 55.1% in the previous quarter. A significant driver of this increase was improved participation among women. The overall female LFPR climbed to 34.9% from 33.7% in the previous quarter, largely led by rural women, whose participation rate increased sharply from 37.5% to 39.4%. Urban female LFPR, however, remained broadly unchanged during the period.
Employment indicators also strengthened. The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for individuals aged 15 and above increased to 53.1% in October-December from 52.2% in the preceding quarter, reflecting greater absorption of labour, especially in rural areas. Female WPR continued its upward trend, signalling sustained improvement in women’s workforce engagement.
Unemployment declined across both rural and urban India. In rural areas, the unemployment rate (UR) fell to 4.0% in October-December from 4.4% in the previous quarter, supported by lower joblessness among both men and women. Urban unemployment eased to 6.7% from 6.9%, driven mainly by a reduction in male unemployment, which dropped from 6.2% to 5.9%.
Overall unemployment across all age groups stood at 4.8% during the October-December quarter, marginally lower than 5.2% recorded in the previous quarter.
Despite the broader improvement, youth unemployment remained a pressing concern. For the 15-29 age group, the joblessness rate stayed in double digits at 14.3% during the quarter. Female youth unemployment was significantly higher at 16.6%, compared to 13.5% among males.
State-level Unemployment
Sharp disparities were recorded in state-level data. Himachal Pradesh recorded the highest youth unemployment rate at 29.9% in the October-December quarter. It was followed by Jammu & Kashmir at 22.8%, Kerala at 21.8%, and Telangana at 21.3%. Uttarakhand’s youth unemployment rate stood at 19.3%, just below the 20% mark.
Among young women, Kerala registered the highest unemployment rate at 34.4%, followed by Jammu & Kashmir at 30.3%, Himachal Pradesh at 30.1%, and Punjab at 28.4%. For young men, Himachal Pradesh again topped the list at 29.9%, followed by Uttarakhand at 20.7% and Telangana at 20.5%.
Out of 22 states for which data was released, 18 reported double-digit unemployment rates among youth during the October-December period. Gujarat recorded the lowest joblessness rate at 5.9%, while Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh followed at 8.9% each. Only four of the 22 states had unemployment rates in single digits.
In terms of employment structure, self-employment saw a modest rise in rural areas, with the share of self-employed workers increasing to 63.2% from 62.8% in the previous quarter. In urban areas, self-employment accounted for 39.7% of workers. Agriculture continued to dominate rural employment, engaging 58.5% of workers, up from 57.7% earlier. In contrast, the tertiary sector remained the largest employer in urban India, accounting for 61.9% of the workforce.
The PLFS defines unemployment under the Current Weekly Status (CWS) approach as a situation where a person did not work even for one hour on any day during the reference week but sought or was available for work for at least one hour during that week.