Joblessness among those aged 15 and above falls in rural, urban areas in Oct-Dec: PLFS

NEW DELHI: The unemployment rate among those in the 15 years and above age group in rural areas declined to 4% in Oct-Dec, 2025, from 4.4% in the previous quarter, driven by a dip in joblessness rate for males and females in rural areas.

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) survey quarterly data released Tuesday showed the urban unemployment rate for those in the 15 years and above age bracket slowed a tad to 6.7% compared to 6.9% in the previous quarter, led by a decline in urban male joblessness rate from 6.2% in July-Sept to 5.9% in the three months to Oct.




The overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for those in the 15 years and above increased marginally to 55.8% during Oct-Dec, compared to 55.1% in the previous quarter. LFPR among females in the same age group rose to 34.9% in Oct-Dec, up from 33.7% during July-Sept 2025.

Data also showed that the share of self-employed workers in rural areas increased to 63.2% during Oct-Dec, compared to 62.8% in last quarter. In urban areas, self-employed persons in the same age group rose marginally to 39.7% during Oct-Dec, 2025 compared 39.3% in three months to July.

Agriculture sector continued to dominate rural employment, accounting for 58.5% of employed persons aged 15 years and above during Oct–Dec, up from 57.7% in July–Sept 2025. In urban areas, tertiary sector remained stable, engaging 61.9% of workers in the three months to Dec, 2025.

During the July-Sept quarter, an average of 56.2 crore persons were employed in the country, comprising 39.6 crore males and 16.6 crore females. This increased to 57.4 crore during the three months to Dec, of which 40.2 crore were males and 17.2 crore were females, according to the data.
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