Unemployment rate falls to 7-month low of 4.7% in November

New Delhi: Unemployment Rate (UR) for persons aged 15 years and above declined to a record low of 4.7 per cent in November 2025, compared to 5.2 per cent in the previous month of October 2025.

The UR among persons aged 15 and above decreased to 4.7 per cent in November 2025, the lowest level since April 2025, according to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

The ministry further stated that in November 2025, the rural UR fell to a new low of 3.9 per cent, while the urban UR decreased to 6.5 per cent, matching its previous lowest level recorded in April 2025. The joblessness rate was 5.1 per cent in April 2025.

According to the statement, overall, the trends suggest strengthening labour market conditions, supported by gains in rural employment, rising female participation, and a gradual recovery in urban labour demand.

UR for both males and females aged 15 years and above showed a notable decline in November 2025, it stated.

Among females, the UR fell to 4.8 per cent in November 2025, down from 5.4 per cent in October 2025.

This decline was driven by reductions in both rural and urban female URs, which decreased from 4.0 per cent to 3.4 per cent and 9.7 per cent to 9.3 per cent, respectively.

Further, the overall male UR decreased to 4.6 per cent in November 2025, compared with 5.1 per cent in October 2025.

Disaggregated by sector, rural and urban male URs stood at 4.1 per cent and 5.6 per cent in November 2025, compared with 4.6 per cent and 6.1 per cent observed in the preceding month.

Unemployment rates showed a steady, broad-based decline across males, females, and all persons during April–November 2025, it stated.

The fall was more pronounced in rural areas, where both male and female unemployment reached their lowest levels in November, it stated.

Urban unemployment remained higher but showed improvement towards the end of the period, it stated.

The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for persons aged 15 years and above showed a broadly improving trend in November 2025.

In rural areas, WPR increased from 55.4 per cent in April 2025 to 56.3 per cent in November 2025, while the overall WPR rose from 52.8 per cent to 53.2 per cent during the same period.

Urban WPR remained largely stable. Notably, rural female WPR improved from 36.8 per cent in April 2025 to 38.4 per cent in November 2025, driving the rise in overall female WPR from 32.5 per cent to 33.4 per cent over this period.

The overall workforce showed an upward trend, rising to 53.2 per cent in November 2025 from 51.2 per cent in June 2025.

The overall LFPR among persons aged 15 years and above increased to 55.8 per cent in November 2025, the highest level recorded since April 2025.

The increase in LFPR was primarily driven by rural areas, where the LFPR rose to 58.6 per cent in November 2025 from 58.0 per cent in April 2025.

Compared with the previous month, rural LFPR increased from 57.8 per cent, while urban LFPR decreased marginally from 50.5 per cent to 50.4 per cent.

Overall, the Female LFPR showed a steady rise from June 2025 to November 2025. It increased from 32.0 per cent to 35.1 per cent during this period, driven mainly by higher labour force participation in rural areas, while urban female LFPR remained relatively stable.

Rural female LFPR recorded a consistent upward movement, rising from 35.2 per cent in June 2025 to 39.7 per cent in November 2025.

At the all-India level, monthly estimates are based on information collected from a total of 3,73,229 persons surveyed.

The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) defines the proportion of those who are employed among the total population.

Considering the need for high-frequency labour force indicators with enhanced coverage, the sampling methodology of PLFS has been revamped since January, 2025.

The monthly bulletins for the period from April to October 2025 have already been released. The present bulletin for November 2025 is the eighth in the series.