Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation’s (MoSPI) Periodic Labour Force Survey has shown that unemployment rate (UR) among persons aged 15 years and above in India has declined marginally to 5.1% in the July-September 2026 from 5.2% a year ago. The unemployment rate was 5.4% in the April-June quarter this year. During July-September period, rural UR declined to 4.3% from 4.8% in the previous quarter, while urban UR remained broadly stable at 6.8% against 6.7%. During the quarter, rural male UR declined by 0.3 percentage points to 4.4% from 4.7% in the year-ago period. Meanwhile, urban UR registered marginal improvements for both male (6.2% to 6.1%) and female (9% to 8.8%) over the same period.
The overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for persons aged 15 years and above has improved to 55.5% during July-September 2026 from 54.6% in the previous quarter, driven by an increase in LFPR for both rural and urban areas. During the same period, LFPR in rural areas rose to 58.1% from 56.9%, while it increased marginally to 50.4% from 50.2% in urban areas. Further, the overall female LFPR increased to 34.7% from 33.2%. The overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for persons aged 15 years and above increased to 52.7% during the July-September 2026 quarter from 51.7% in the previous quarter. During the same period, WPR in rural areas increased to 55.6% from 54.2%, while it remained largely stable in urban areas at 46.9% against 46.8%.
In July-September 2026, the share of self-employed workers in rural areas rose to 62.7% from 61.4% in the previous quarter, while it advanced to 49.6% from 49.3% in urban areas. Meanwhile, the share of workers engaged in casual labour in rural and urban areas declined quarter-on-quarter during July-September 2026. In rural areas, it decreased from 22.5% to 21.7%, while in urban areas, it declined from 11.1% to 10.7%. Meanwhile, the share of workers in regular wage/ salaried employment in rural areas increased by 0.6 percentage points over the year. In urban regions, regular wage/ salaried employment declined marginally year-on-year. Besides, the share of the agriculture sector increased in rural areas, and the tertiary sector remained stable in urban areas.