Unemployment rate remains steady at 5.2% in October: Govt survey

New Delhi: The rate of unemployment for those aged 15 and above remained steady at 5.2 per cent in October, according to a government survey released on Monday.

The unemployment rate (UR) was 5.2 per cent in September, 5.1 per cent in August, 5.2 per cent in July and 5.6 per cent in May and June, as per the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

The UR was 5.1 per cent in April as per the first PLFS bulletin released in May 2025.

"The UR among persons of age 15 years and above remained unchanged at 5.2 per cent between September, 2025 and October, 2025," an official statement said.

According to the statement, a marginal decline in the rural unemployment rate, from 4.6 per cent in September 2025 to 4.4 per cent in October 2025, coupled with a moderate rise in urban UR from 6.8 per cent to 7.0 per cent, resulted in overall stability in the pace of joblessness among persons aged 15 years and above.

It stated that UR among females aged 15 years and above declined to 5.4 per cent in October 2025 from 5.5 per cent observed during September 2025.

The drop in UR among rural female, from 4.3 per cent in September 2025 to 4.0 per cent in October 2025, mainly contributed towards the decline in overall female joblessness rate.

Among males, the rate of unemployment remained stable at 5.1 per cent in October 2025 as compared to previous month.

A minor decrease in rural male UR, from 4.7 per cent in September 2025 to 4.6 per cent in October 2025, was offset by a slight uptick in urban male UR from 6.0 per cent to 6.1 per cent during the same period, which contributed to overall stability.

The overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in October 2025 was 52.5 per cent, which is consistently rising since June 2025, it stated.

Rise in the female workforce in rural areas has brought about this increase. Overall WPR among females of 15 years and older increased steadily for the fourth month in a row, rising from 30.2 per cent in June 2025 to 32.4 per cent in October 2025, it stated.

The female workforce in rural areas has increased consistently for four months, reaching 36.9 per cent in October 2025 from 33.6 per cent in June 2025.

The overall LFPR (labour force participation rate) among persons of age 15 years and above continued to increase for the four successive months to 55.4 per cent in October 2025 from 54.2 per cent recorded in June 2025.

LFPR in rural areas also increased steadily from 56.1 per cent observed in June 2025 to 57.8 per cent in October 2025.

Overall LFPR reached a six-month high of 55.4 per cent in October 2025, it stated.

The overall LFPR among female aged 15 years and above reached 34.2 per cent in October 2025, marking the highest since May 2025, driven by the increase in female LFPR in rural areas.

Overall female LFPR showed an increasing trend from 32.0 per cent in June 2025 to 34.2 per cent in October 2025.

At the all-India level, monthly estimates are based on information collected from a total number of 3,74,164 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.

The monthly bulletins for the period from April to September 2025 have already been released. The latest bulletin for October 2025 is the seventh in the series.