India's unemployment rate falls for second month to 5.1% in August, female workforce participation gains momentum

New Delhi [India], September 15 (ANI): India’s overall unemployment rate fell to 5.1 per cent in August 2025, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) on Monday.

The rate declined for the second month in a row, from 5.6 per cent in June to 5.2 per cent in July and now 5.1 per cent in August.

The unemployment rate among men aged 15 years and above declined to 5.0% in August, the lowest since April 2025. Urban male unemployment fell from 6.6% in July to 5.9% in August, while rural male unemployment decreased to 4.5%

The rural unemployment rate dropped steadily for three consecutive months, from 5.1% in May to 4.3% in August. The combined rural and urban unemployment rate stood at 5.1%.

Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for women increased to 32.0% in August, compared with 30.2% in June. Rural female WPR rose from 33.6% in June to 35.9% in August. Urban female WPR rose from 22.9% in June to 23.8% in August.

Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for women increased from 32.0% in June to 33.7% in August. Rural female LFPR rose from 35.2% in June to 37.4% in August. Urban female LFPR rose from 25.2% in June to 26.1% in August.

The overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR) increased to 52.2% in August, compared with 51.2% in June.

The overall LFPR for persons aged 15 years and above rose from 54.2% in June to 55% in August.

The August 2025 bulletin is based on responses from 376,839 individuals, including 215,895 in rural areas and 160,944 in urban areas.

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by NSO, MoSPI, is the primary source of data on activity participation and employment and unemployment conditions of the population. The PLFS survey methodology has been modified from January 2025 to provide monthly and quarterly estimates of labour force indicators for the country.

Monthly results of PLFS are released in the form of Monthly Bulletins. It presents estimates of key labour market indicators, viz. Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and Unemployment Rate (UR) at the all-India level following the Current Weekly Status (CWS) approach.

The Monthly Bulletins for the months April 2025 to July 2025 have already been released. The present Monthly Bulletin for the month of August 2025 is the fifth in the series. (ANI)

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