New Delhi, Feb 11 (.) India’s labour market showed positive momentum in the October–December 2025 quarter, with a rise in female labour force participation, an increase in overall workforce participation, and a decline in unemployment rates, according to the latest Quarterly Bulletin of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the National Statistics Office (NSO), Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
The overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for persons aged 15 years and above increased to 55.8 percent during October–December 2025, up from 55.1 percent in the previous quarter. Rural LFPR rose to 58.4 percent, while urban participation remained broadly stable during the period.
Female LFPR recorded a notable rise, climbing to 34.9 percent in October–December 2025 from 33.7 percent in July–September 2025. The increase was largely driven by rural women’s participation, which rose from 37.5 percent to 39.4 percent during the same period, while urban female LFPR remained steady.
The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for persons aged 15 years and above improved to 53.1 percent in the October–December quarter from 52.2 percent in the previous quarter. The overall WPR rise was primarily attributed to increased workforce engagement in rural areas.
The Unemployment Rate (UR) for persons aged 15 years and above declined in both rural and urban areas.
In rural areas, the UR dropped to 4.0 percent from 4.4 percent in the previous quarter. In urban areas, unemployment eased to 6.7 percent, compared to 6.9 percent earlier, mainly due to a reduction in male unemployment.
Self-employment saw a modest increase. In rural areas, the share of self-employed workers rose to 63.2 percent in October–December 2025 from 62.8 percent in the previous quarter. In urban areas, the proportion increased slightly to 39.7 percent.
Agriculture continued to dominate rural employment, accounting for 58.5 percent of employed persons aged 15 years and above during October–December 2025, up from 57.7 percent in the previous quarter. In urban areas, the tertiary sector remained the leading employer, engaging 61.9 percent of workers.
The estimated number of employed persons aged 15 years and above rose from 56.2 crore in July–September 2025 to 57.4 crore in October–December 2025. Of the total employed in the latest quarter, 40.2 crore were males and 17.2 crore were females.
The quarterly estimates are based on a survey of 5,61,108 persons across rural and urban India.
The PLFS, which was revamped from January 2025 to provide monthly and quarterly estimates for both rural and urban areas under the Current Weekly Status framework, continues to serve as the country’s primary source of employment and unemployment data.
. VK VAN