India’s unemployment rate edges up to 5.2% in September, urban women hit hardest

New Delhi: India’s unemployment rate for those aged 15 years and above increased marginally to 5.2% in September from 5.1% in August owing to a rise in joblessness in both rural and urban areas.

Unemployment in rural areas rose to 4.6% in September from 4.3% in August, according to the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the statistics ministry on Wednesday. Urban unemployment inched up to 6.8% from 6.7% over the same period, underscoring persistent strain in city labour markets, the survey showed.

Women remained disproportionately affected, albeit for different reasons in urban and rural India. In urban regions, unemployment among women rose to 9.3% in September from 8.9% in August, while joblessness among men rose to 6% from 5.9%. In rural parts, the unemployment rate for women climbed to 5.5% in September from 5.2% in August, while for men it rose to 4.7% in September from 4.5% in August.

“The estimates of the unemployed in CWS (current weekly status) give an average picture of unemployment in a short period of seven days during the survey period,” the survey said.

“A person was considered unemployed in a week if he/she did not work even for one hour on any day during the reference week, but sought or was available for work at least for one hour on any day during the reference week,” it added.

Deep imbalances

The latest employment data underscores the dual challenge facing India’s labour market: robust male participation coupled with persistently low female participation, and higher engagement in rural areas than in cities, a pattern that continues to weigh on the country’s employment landscape.

The labour force participation rate (LFPR) saw only marginal gains, underscoring persistent structural imbalances. Overall, the LFPR for individuals aged 15 and above rose slightly to 55.3% in September from 55% in August. In rural areas, the LFPR rose from 57% in August to 57.4% in September. In contrast, urban LFPR remained unchanged at 50.9% in September.

“Labour force refers to the part of the population which supplies or offers to supply labour for pursuing economic activities for the production of goods and services and therefore, includes both ‘employed’ and ‘unemployed’ persons,” the ministry explained. “Labour force according to CWS is the number of persons either employed or unemployed on an average in a week of seven days preceding the date of survey,” it added.

In September the LFPR among rural men aged 15 and above was 78.1%, while for rural women of the same age group it was 37.9%. In urban areas LFPR for men was 75.3% compared with just 26.1% for women, highlighting persistent gender gaps in workforce participation.

The worker population ratio (WPR), which tracks the share of people employed, mirrored these divides. In September the WPR for individuals aged 15 and above stood at 52.4% nationwide. It was 54.8% in rural areas and 47.4% in urban areas.

In rural parts, 74.4% of men and 36.3% of women participated in the workforce, while in urban areas the WPR was 70.8% for men and just 23.7% for women.

Revamped framework

The statistics ministry said the findings were based on an extensive household survey. In September, 7,500 first-stage units (FSUs) were surveyed nationwide, spanning 89,291 households and 375,703 individuals, split across rural and urban areas. FSUs are the primary units selected for sampling in a multi-stage survey design.

The ministry has revamped the PLFS framework to provide more timely data. Starting with the April bulletin, the ministry began releasing monthly estimates of key labour market indicators, LFPR, WPR, and unemployment rate at the all-India level using the current weekly status approach.

“It may be noted that, besides the first visit sample (25% of the total sample size), samples in respect to three revisits (75% of the total sample size) were also surveyed during the months April to September 2025,” the survey added.