India's unemployment rate falls to 5.1% in July from 5.5% in June

India's unemployment rate among people aged 15 years and above declined to 5.1% in July from 5.5% in June, according to government data released on Monday.

The latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) bulletin showed the overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) rose to 55.4% in July from 54.4% in June.

Rural LFPR rose 1.4 percentage points to 58.0%, while urban LFPR increased marginally to 50.4% from 50.1%.

The improvement was particularly pronounced among women.

Overall female LFPR rose to 34.4% in July from 32.7% in June. Rural female LFPR increased to 38.8% from 36.6%, while urban female LFPR rose to 25.3% from 24.8%.

The Worker Population Ratio (WPR), which indicates the proportion of the population that is employed, also increased to 52.5% in July from 51.4% in June. This was the first increase in the overall WPR since February 2026.

Rural WPR increased to 55.4% from 53.8%, while urban WPR edged up to 47.0% from 46.8%.

Rural female WPR rose to 37.2% in July from 34.7% in June, while urban female WPR increased to 23.1% from 22.7%.

The overall unemployment rate among people aged 15 years and above fell to 5.1% in July from 5.5% in June.

Rural unemployment declined to 4.5% from 5.0%, while urban unemployment was broadly stable at 6.7%, compared with 6.6% in June.

Overall male unemployment fell to 5.0% in July from 5.3% in June, while rural male unemployment declined to 4.6% from 4.9%.

Urban male unemployment was largely stable month-on-month but fell to 5.9% in July from 6.6% a year earlier.

Female unemployment also declined overall and in rural areas from June levels. However, urban female unemployment rose to 8.8% from 8.4% in June and was broadly unchanged from 8.7% a year earlier.

Compared with July 2025, overall LFPR increased by 0.5 percentage point to 55.4%, while rural LFPR rose by 1.1 percentage points. Urban LFPR declined marginally by 0.3 percentage point.

The July bulletin is the 16th monthly release under the revised PLFS methodology, which was introduced in January 2025 to provide monthly and quarterly estimates of key labour market indicators.

The monthly estimates are based on information collected from 371,021 people, including 211,411 in rural areas and 159,610 in urban areas.