The Center unveiled its monthly manual and unemployment inaugural figures on Thursday, signaling an evolution towards monitoring of real-time employment. According to the Ministry of Statistics and the Implementation of the Program (Mospi), the national unemployment rate (UR) reached 5.1%in April 2025 for people aged 15 and over, with a slightly higher rate for men (5.2%) compared to women (5.0%).
These new monthly data, collected through the current weekly metric (CWS) of the periodic labor survey (PLFS), aim to provide faster and more detailed information on the labor market of India. Previously, the active population survey was published only on a quarterly and annual basis.
Young unemployment, aged 15 to 29, was registered at 13.8% nationally. Urban areas declared an unemployment rate of 17.2%, while rural areas amounted to 12.3%.
Unemployment among those of the age group of 15 to 29 was 13.8% across the country. The unemployment rate in urban areas amounted to 17.2%, while it was 12.3% in rural areas.
CWS, which represents the current weekly status, is determined according to the level of activity during the last seven days preceding the date of survey.
According to the study, the unemployment rate (UR) for women aged 15 to 29 was 14.4% nationally, with a rate of 23.7% in urban areas and 10.7% in rural areas.
For men of the same age group, the unemployment rate was 13.6% nationally, with a rate of 15% in cities and 13% in villages.
In April, the rate of participation in the active population (LFPR) in India amounted to 55.6% nationally. Rural areas had a higher commitment to the active population, with an LFPR of 58.0%, unlike 50.7% in urban regions.
For men, the LFPR remained robust in rural and urban areas, at 79.0% and 75.3% respectively. However, women were faced with a significant disparity with a lower LFPR. In rural India, the female LFPR was 38.2%, highlighting the widespread dependence on informal and unpaid work, in particular in agricultural households.
The workers’ population ratio (WPR), indicating the proportion of people employed among the working age population, was recorded at 52.8% across the country. The WPR was higher in rural areas at 55.4% against 47.4% in urban areas.
Sex disparities were also obvious in WPR figures. While rural women had a WPR of 36.8%, only 23.5% of urban women aged 15 and over were engaged in a job. The total WPR of India in April was 32.5%.
