PLFS Survey

Urban hiring activity picks up after winter lull as overall unemployment rate falls slightly in February, according to the latest PLFS monthly bulletin

Overall unemployment among persons aged 15 years and above fell marginally to 4.9 per cent in February from 5 per cent in January this year, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released on Monday. After an increase in January 2026, the urban unemployment rate (UR) among persons aged 15 years and above declined to 6.6 per cent in February 2026, falling below the December 2025 level (6.7%), the survey stated. Rural UR remained unchanged at 4.2 per cent in February 2026. In February 2026, the overall unemployment rate (UR) among females aged 15 years and above declined to 5.1 per cent, compared to 5.6 per cent in January, 2026. Decline was observed in both rural and urban areas. The urban female UR decreased from 9.8 per cent in January 2026 to 8.7 per cent in February 2026, while the rural female UR declined from 4.3 per cent to 4.0 per cent during the same period. The overall male UR remained stable at 4.8 per cent. The overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFP

Discrepancies between the expenditure and production sides not completely wiped out

For urban areas, the jobless rate fell to 6.5 per cent from 7 per cent during the same period

Youth unemployment rose for the second month in a row as labour participation fell in June, with a sharper increase in urban joblessness, PLFS data from NSO shows

The unemployment rate in urban areas stood at 6.5 per cent as against 4.5 per cent in rural areas

Youth unemployment stood at 13.8% in April while the overall jobless rate was 5.1%, with higher joblessness in urban areas, according to NSO's first monthly labour survey

The National Statistics Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation will start releasing the monthly employment numbers in the form of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) from this month, starting with the data for April 2025. Besides, PLFS' quarterly numbers will now be brought out separately for rural, urban as well as the combined figures for rural and urban areas, according to a ministry statement. At present, the labour force survey is released on a quarterly as well as annual basis. The first monthly bulletin of PLFS for April 2025 is scheduled to be released in May this year, the statement said. The first quarterly bulletin of PLFS covering both rural and urban areas for the quarter April-June, 2025 is slated to be released in August 2025, it stated. "National Statistics Office (NSO), MOSPI continues its endeavour to enhance the scope, relevance and coverage of the surveys conducted by NSS. Key labour force indicators from PLFS at the all-India leve

The data based on "current weekly status" showed a marginal decline in rural unemployment (from 4.3 per cent to 4.2 per cent), with slight reductions for both men and women

On the other hand, the unemployment rate among urban youth declined in five major states. These are Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Kerala

The share of OAEs stood at 84.2 per cent in the 73rd round of the National Sample Survey (NSS), conducted between July 2015 and June 2016

Currently, the NSO releases the PLFS data for urban areas on a quarterly and yearly basis, while for rural areas it is released only annually

PLFS data says share of manufacturing up

Labour force participation rate for women rose to 41.7% from 23.3% in 2017-18

PLFS data for the period suggests share of self-employed, wage-jobbers up

In contrast, the female unemployment rate increased to 9 per cent in Q1 FY25 from 8.5 per cent in Q4 FY24

Indian economy poses structural constraints

The share of women in wage work was the highest in Q1 of FY21 at 61.2 per cent

Previously, the jobless rate in urban areas has been steadily declining since the high of 12.6 per cent reported during the April-June quarter of FY22 during the peak of the pandemic

It is not really a case of jobless growth, just that job creation is more for the low-skilled