India adds 1.2 crore jobs in Oct–Dec quarter as labour indicators improve: Govt data

India’s labour market showed further improvement in the October–December 2025 quarter as female workforce participation continued to rise and unemployment declined across rural and urban areas, government data showed on Tuesday.

The overall labour force participation rate (LFPR) for people aged 15 years and above rose to 55.8% in the quarter, from 55.1% in July–September, according to the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the National Statistical Office.

“The overall LFPR of female aged 15 years and above showed upward trend, increased to 34.9% in October-December, 2025 from 33.7% in the previous quarter,” the government release said.

The uptick was driven by an increase in female LFPR in rural areas from 37.5% in the quarter July-September, 2025 to 39.4% in October-December, 2025.

However, female LFPR in urban areas remained stable.

The worker population ratio (WPR), a measure of the proportion of employed persons in the population, increased to 53.1% from 52.2% in the previous quarter.

“The overall WPR of female aged 15 years and above continued to improve during the quarter October-December, 2025 as compared to last two quarters, reflecting a positive shift in women’s engagement in the workforce,” the statement read.

According to the survey, unemployment declined across both rural and urban regions during the quarter.

While rural unemployment for those aged 15 and above fell to 4.0% in October–December from 4.4% in the previous quarter, urban unemployment eased to 6.7% from 6.9%.

In rural areas, the share of self-employed workers rose to 63.2% from 62.8% in July–September, while in urban areas it increased to 39.7% from 39.3%.

Agriculture continued to dominate rural employment, accounting for 58.5% of employed persons aged 15 years and above during the quarter, compared with 57.7% in July–September 2025. In urban areas, the tertiary sector remained the largest employer, engaging 61.9% of workers.

The survey estimated that the total number of employed persons aged 15 years and above increased to 57.4 crore during October–December 2025 from 56.2 crore in the previous quarter. Of the total employed, 40.2 crore were males and 17.2 crore were females.