First-ever monthly job data shows India's unemployment rate at 5.1% in April 2025
The rate of unemployment in the country, measured in monthly term for the first time, stood at 5.1% in April this year, showed the government data released on Thursday (May 15, 2025).
The Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation released the first monthly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) as part of efforts to monitor the proportion of unemployed people among those eligible for jobs in the country in real time.
Until now, the labour force survey was released on a quarterly as well as annual basis.
The latest data collected in current weekly status (CWS) showed that unemployment rate for persons of all ages during April 2025 worked out to be 5.1% in April 2025. The pace of joblessness among men stayed slightly higher at 5.2% compared to that of women at 5%.
Joblessness among those in the age group of 15-29 was 13.8% across the country. The rate of unemployment in urban areas stood at 17.2%, while it was 12.3% in rural areas.
CWS refers to the activity status determined on the basis of a reference period of last 7 days preceding the date of survey.
The study further showed that unemployment rate (UR) among women in the age group of 15-29 was 14.4% across the country (rural+urban), while it was 23.7% in cities and 10.7% in villages.
Joblessness among men aged 15-29 years was recorded at 13.6% in the country, while it was 15% in cities and 13% in villages.
The data also showed that Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) among people aged 15 years and above was 55.6% during April 2025.
The participation rate in rural areas was 58.0% while it was 50.7% in urban areas.
LFPR among males aged 15 years and above in rural and urban areas were 79.0% and 75.3%, respectively.
Among females aged 15 years and above, the rate of labour force participation was 38.2% for rural areas during April 2025.
LFPR refers to the percentage of persons in labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population.
Worker Population Ratio (WPR) defines the proportion of those who are employed among total population.
WPR in rural areas among those aged 15 years and above was 55.4% in April, the data showed.
The ratio in urban areas was 47.4%, while the overall WPR at the national level was recorded at 52.8% last month.
WPR among females aged 15 years and above in rural and urban areas were 36.8% and 23.5% respectively. The overall female WPR of the same age group at the country level was 32.5%.
Considering the need for high-frequency labour force indicators with enhanced coverage, the sampling methodology of PLFS has been revamped from January 2025.
Across the country, a total of 7,511 first-stage sampling units have been surveyed during April 2025.
The number of households surveyed was 89,434 (49,323 in rural areas and 40,111 in urban areas) and number of persons surveyed was 3,80,838 (2,17,483 in rural areas and 1,63,355 in urban areas).
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