India’s female labour participation rises to 2025 high in December; unemployment rate stable

Women’s participation in India’s labour market rose to its highest level of 2025 in December, while the overall unemployment rate remained broadly stable, government data released on Thursday showed.

Female labour force participation rate (LFPR) among people aged 15 and above climbed to 35.3% in December, up from 35.1% in November, according to monthly estimates from the National Statistical Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.

Data from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) showed that the overall LFPR for persons aged 15 years and above rose to 56.1% in December 2025 from 55.8% in November, continuing an upward trend seen since June.

The worker population ratio, a measure of the employed share of the population, also improved, reaching a yearly peak of 53.4% in December, up from 53.2% in November.

Rural workforce participation strengthened for both men and women, with rural male participation at 76.0% and rural female participation at 38.6%.

India’s unemployment rate for those aged 15 and above stood at 4.8% in December, broadly unchanged from 4.7% in November. Rural unemployment was steady at 3.9%, while urban unemployment inched up to 6.7% from 6.5%.

Urban female unemployment eased to 9.1% in December from 9.3% in November and from a yearly high of 9.7% recorded in October, the data showed.

The figures are based on the Periodic Labour Force Survey, which from January 2025 began releasing monthly and quarterly estimates of key labour indicators using a current weekly status approach.

The December bulletin is the ninth in the new monthly series and is based on a survey of nearly 374,000 people nationwide.