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Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) April 2025 bulletin highlights unemployment trends and labour force participation across rural and urban India.

What is the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)?

The PLFS was launched in 2017 by the National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), to collect data on employment and unemployment in India.

It replaced older, less frequent surveys by the National Sample Survey Office (NSSO). The survey has two main goals:

• Short-term tracking: Measure employment indicators (like unemployment rate, Labour Force Participation Rate, and Worker Population Ratio) every three months in urban areas using the Current Weekly Status (CWS), which looks at a person’s work status in the past seven days.
• Annual estimates: Provide detailed data for both rural and urban areas yearly, using CWS and Usual Status (work status over the past 365 days).

Key Findings from April 2025 PLFS Data

Unemployment Rate (UR)

• The overall unemployment rate in India is 5.1% for people aged 15 and above, measured using the Current Weekly Status (CWS) method. The survey checks if someone worked at least one hour in the week before the survey or was actively looking for work.
• Men have a slightly higher unemployment rate at 5.2%, while women have a rate of 5.0%.
• Rural areas show a lower unemployment rate of 4.5%, compared to 6.5% in urban areas.
• Young women (aged 15–29) in urban areas face a high unemployment rate of 23.7%, highlighting challenges for young female job seekers in cities.

Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR)

• The LFPR shows the percentage of people aged 15 and above who are either working or looking for work. In April 2025, the LFPR was 55.6% across India.
• In rural areas, the LFPR is higher at 58.0%, while in urban areas, it’s 50.7%.
• Men participate more in the workforce: 79.0% in rural areas and 75.3% in urban areas.
• Women have lower participation: 38.2% in rural areas and 25.7% in urban areas. This shows women, especially in cities, are less likely to join the workforce.

Worker Population Ratio (WPR)

• The WPR measures the percentage of people aged 15 and above who are employed. Nationally, the WPR is 52.8%.
• In rural areas, the WPR is 55.4%, and in urban areas, it’s 47.4%.
• For women, the WPR is 36.8% in rural areas and 23.5% in urban areas, with an overall female WPR of 32.5%. This indicates fewer women are employed compared to men.

Gender and Regional Disparities

Gender Gaps => Women’s LFPR and WPR are much lower than men’s. For example, rural male LFPR is 79.0%, while rural female LFPR is 38.2%. In urban areas, the gap is wider: 75.3% for men versus 25.7% for women. 

• High unemployment among young urban women (23.7%) reflects barriers like lack of safe transport, childcare, or patriarchal norms.

Rural v/s Urban => Rural areas show lower unemployment and higher LFPR and WPR, due to dependence on agriculture and schemes like MGNREGA. 

• However, rural jobs are often low-productivity or informal, raising concerns about job quality. Urban areas, with higher unemployment, struggle with sluggish formal job creation.

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Periodic Labour Force Survey

Source: 

THE HINDU