First-ever monthly job report shows India's unemployment rate at 5.1% in April 2025

India’s unemployment rate, measured in monthly terms for the first time, stood at 5.1% in April 2025, according to the government data released on Thursday.

According to the monthly Bulletin of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), the unemployment rate under the Current Weekly Status (CWS) among individuals aged 15 years and above was 5.1%.

Male unemployment was marginally higher at 5.2%, while female unemployment stood at 5.0%.

Joblessness among men aged 15-29 years was recorded at 13.6% in the country, while it was 15% in cities and 13% in villages.

The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in April was 55.6%, with rural areas recording a higher participation (58.0%) than urban areas (50.7%).

LFPR refers to the percentage of persons in labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population.

Among males, the LFPR was 79.0% in rural and 75.3% in urban regions. Female participation was significantly lower, with rural areas at 38.2%.

The Worker Population Ratio (WPR), another key indicator which defines the proportion of those who are employed among total population, was 52.8% nationwide.

It stood at 55.4% in rural and 47.4% in urban areas. Female WPRs were 36.8% in rural and 23.5% in urban areas, with a national average of 32.5%.

The Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation released the first monthly PLFS as part of efforts to monitor the proportion of unemployed people among those eligible for jobs in the country in real time.

Until now, the labour force survey was released on a quarterly as well as annual basis.

The new design employs a rotational panel sampling scheme where selected households are surveyed over four consecutive months to produce more timely and comprehensive employment data.

The April 2025 bulletin is based on surveys conducted across 7,511 first-stage sampling units, covering over 89,000 households and nearly 3.81 lakh individuals nationwide.