Unemployment dips marginally to 3.1% in 2025: Govt survey

New Delhi: The overall unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above in the country declined marginally to 3.1 per cent in January to December 2025 from 3.2 per cent a year ago, stated a government survey released on Friday.

Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) 2025, released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, said the unemployment rate (UR) estimates indicate sustained progress in reducing unemployment across sectors and genders.

The study showed the UR among females in the country remained unchanged at 3.1 per cent in 2025 compared to the year-ago level, while for males it came down to 3.1 per cent in 2025 from 3.3 per cent.

Rural unemployment rates in 2025 stood at 2.4 per cent, marginally lower than 2.5 per cent a year ago, showing strong rural labour absorption, it stated.

The female unemployment rate remained low at 2.1 per cent, lower than the male UR in rural areas, which stood at 2.6 per cent.

The male and female unemployment eased to 4.2 per cent and 6.4 per cent, respectively.

The percentage distribution of workers (in usual status) by status in employment indicates a modest shift in the composition of employment in 2025, it stated.

The share of self-employment declined slightly from 57.5 per cent in 2024 to 56.2 per cent in 2025 at the overall level, with reductions observed for both male (52.9 per cent to 52 per cent) and female (66.5 per cent to 64.2 per cent).

It explained that this moderation has been accompanied by an increase in the share of regular wage/salaried employment, which rose from 22.4 per cent to 23.6 per cent; the increase is visible for both male (25.4 per cent to 26.5 per cent) and female (16.6 per cent to 18.2 per cent).

The share of workers engaged in casual labour has remained broadly stable at around one-fifth of total employment (20 per cent in 2024 to 20.2 per cent in 2025), with only marginal variations across gender, it stated.

The percentage distribution of workers (in usual status) by industry of work reflects a broadly stable sectoral composition in 2025 with some notable shifts.

Agriculture continues to account for the largest share of employment, though it has decreased from 44.8 per cent in 2024 to 43.0 per cent in 2025.

The share of employment in construction has decreased marginally (12.3 per cent to 12 per cent), while manufacturing has seen improvement from 11.6 per cent to 12.1 per cent.

Other services have also recorded an increase (12.2 per cent to 13.1 per cent).

Earnings of workers have shown a notable improvement in recent years across categories, with gains observed for both males and females in nominal terms.

In regular wage/salaried employment, average earnings for males increased from Rs 22,891 in 2024 to Rs 24,217 in 2025 (about 5.8 per cent growth), while for females, earnings rose from Rs 17,126 to Rs 18,353 (about 7.2 per cent rise).

In self-employment, male earnings increased from Rs 16,893 in 2024 to Rs 17,914 in 2025 (around 6 per cent growth), while female earnings rose from Rs 5,861 to Rs 6,374 (around 8.8 per cent increase).

For casual labour (other than public works), male earnings remained stable (Rs 456 in 2024 and Rs 455 in 2025), while female earnings improved from Rs 299 to Rs 315 (about 5.4 per cent growth).

Urban attainment remains higher (11.2 years for males and 10.8 years for females), while rural levels stand at 9.3 years and 8.6 years, respectively.

The rural male labour force participation remained strong at 80.5 per cent, while rural female participation held steady at 45.9 per cent, sustaining the gains achieved in previous years.

Both male and female labour force participation rates in 2025 remained broadly consistent with the levels observed in 2024 in urban areas.

The number of households surveyed was 2,70,472 (1,48,718 in rural areas and 1,21,754 in urban areas), and the number of persons surveyed was 11,48,634 (6,56,160 in rural areas and 4,92,474 in urban areas).