The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by the Labour Bureau for the July-September 2025 quarter show unemployment rate among persons aged 15 years and above in rural areas declined to 4.4% during the period from 4.8% in the previous quarter.
The PLFS also showed urban unemployment rate had “edged up slightly”, with rates increasing from 6.1% to 6.2% for males, and from 8.9% to 9.0% for females, during the same period.
Overall, the unemployment rate among persons aged 15 years and above dropped to 5.2% in July-September, 2025 from 5.4% in the previous quarter, according to the survey.
Self-employment dominated in rural areas while in urban areas, jobs were based on regular wages or salaried employment. Self-employed persons of age 15 years and above in rural areas increased to 62.8% during July- September, up from 60.7% recorded in the previous quarter of April-June 2025.
“In urban areas, the share of regular wage/ salaried employment also showed marginal improvement, rising to 49.8% in July-September from 49.4% in April-June, 2025,” the survey found. “On average, 56.2 crore persons (aged 15 years and above) were employed in the country during the quarter of July-September 2025, of which 39.6 crore were male and 16.6 crore were female,” the PLFS stated.
The rural workforce continued to concentrate in the agriculture sector, and the urban workforce are primarily employed by the tertiary sector. The majority of the rural workers are engaged in the agriculture sector, accounting for 57.7% during the period, up from 53.5% in the previous quarter. “This increase in the share of rural employment in the agriculture sector can be attributed to seasonal agricultural operations. In the urban areas, the tertiary sector remained dominant, engaging 62.0% of workers during July-September, 2025, slightly higher than 61.7% in April-June, 2025,” the survey said.
The overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) among females of age 15 years and above increased to 33.7% in July-September 2025 from 33.4% in the previous quarter. “This improvement was driven largely by the increase in female LFPR in rural areas from 37.0% in the quarter April-June 2025 to 37.5% in July-September 2025. The overall LFPR among persons of age 15 years and above held steady at 55.1% during July-September 2025, compared to 55.0% in the previous quarter. A slight up-tick was observed in both rural and urban areas — the rural LFPR inched up from 57.1% to 57.2%, while the urban LFPR also registered a modest rise over the same period from 50.6% to 50.7%,” the survey noted.
Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for persons of age 15 years and above in the country during the quarter was 52.2%. In rural areas, WPR was 54.7% as compared to WPR of 47.2% recorded in urban areas for persons of age 15 years and above for the same quarter.
Published – November 11, 2025 03:18 am IST
