Unemployment rate unchanged at 5.2% in October, shows PLFS data

India’s unemployment rate remained at 5.2 per cent for the second month in a row in October, as labour markets showed momentum to match the increased workforce during the month, the latest periodic labour force survey (PLFS) monthly bulletin released on Monday showed.

 

The jobless rate in rural areas fell to 4.4 per cent from 4.6 per cent during this period, data by the national statistics office (NSO) said.

 

However, labour markets in urban areas faced strain as the unemployment rate rose to its highest in three months at 7 per cent from 6.8 per cent in September. 

National statistics office (NSO), which comes under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), releases the unemployment data for people aged 15 years and above in the current weekly status (CWS) terms.

 

In the CWS terms, the activity status is determined on the reference period over the past seven days preceding the date of the survey.

 

Under this, a person is considered as unemployed in a week if they did not work even for one hour on any day during the reference week but sought or were available for work at least for one hour on any day during the reference week.

 

The data further showed that while the unemployment rate among men remained steady at 5.1 per cent, it registered a decline for women (5.4 per cent) from 5.5 per cent in the previous month.

 

Meanwhile, the labour force participation rate (LFPR) -- which is a measure of the number of people either working or looking for work -- rose slightly to 55.4 per cent in October from 55.3 per cent in September. In rural areas, the figure rose to 57.8 per cent from 57.4 per cent while in urban areas, it fell to 50.5 per cent from 50.9 per cent during the same time period.

 

The worker population ratio (WPR), which reflects the share of people actually employed among those looking for work, stood at 52.5 per cent in October.

 

“Rise in the female workforce in rural areas has brought about this increase. Overall WPR among females of age 15 years and above increased steadily for the fourth month in a row, rising from 30.2 per cent in June to 32.4 per cent in October,” said NSO in a statement.

 

The sampling methodology of PLFS has been revamped by the NSO from January 2025 in a bid to estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators on a monthly basis for rural and urban areas in the CWS method at all-India level.