New Delhi: India’s labour market continued to strengthen in October, with key employment indicators showing sustained improvement, driven largely by a rise in female participation, according to the monthly bulletin of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the National Statistical Office (NSO), ministry of statistics and programme implementation (MoSPI).
The labour force participation rate (LFPR) for persons aged 15 years and above rose to 55.4% in October, marking a six-month high and the fourth consecutive month of increase from 54.2% in June 2025. Rural labour participation also exhibited a consistent rise, moving up from 56.1% in June to 57.8% in October.
A major driver of this momentum was the increase in women joining the labour force. The female LFPR reached 34.2% in October, the highest since May, with rural areas contributing significantly to the uptick. This marks the fourth straight month of growth in female participation.
Strengthening labour force participation translated to more people securing employment. The overall worker population ratio (WPR) improved to 52.5% in October, continuing a steady upward trend since June. The rise was predominantly pushed by women in rural areas. For females aged 15 years and above, WPR increased from 30.2% in June to 32.4% in October, reflecting sustained expansion in job engagement.
Despite higher participation and employment, unemployment levels remained largely stable.
The overall unemployment rate (UR) for persons 15 years and above stood at 5.2% in October, the same as in September. A marginal decline in rural unemployment — from 4.6% to 4.4% — was offset by a moderate increase in urban unemployment — from 6.8% to 7.0%, resulting in overall stability.
Women recorded clearer improvement compared to men. The female UR fell to 5.4% in October from 5.5% in September, primarily driven by a drop in rural female unemployment from 4.3% to 4.0%. In contrast, male unemployment held steady at 5.1%. A slight easing in rural male unemployment (4.7% to 4.6%) was balanced by a small increase in urban male unemployment (6.0% to 6.1%).
The latest bulletin is the seventh in the monthly PLFS series, launched with a revised methodology in January 2025 to enable the release of monthly and quarterly labour market estimates based on the current weekly status (CWS) approach.
Economists say sustained growth in female workforce participation — particularly in rural India — will be key to maintaining the current momentum in employment indicators.