India's Labour Market Improves In July As LFPR Rises, Unemployment Falls: MoSPI

New Delhi, Aug 18 (KNN) India's labour market showed improvement in July 2026, with the overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for people aged 15 years and above rising to 55.4 percent from 54.4 percent in June, according to the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

LFPR, WPR Improve; Unemployment Declines

The latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) data showed that the Worker Population Ratio (WPR) also increased to 52.5 percent in July from 51.4 percent in June, while the overall Unemployment Rate (UR) declined to 5.1 percent from 5.5 percent.

Rural areas recorded a stronger improvement in labour force participation, with LFPR rising by 1.4 percentage points to 58 percent in July from 56.6 percent in June. Urban LFPR increased marginally to 50.4 percent from 50.1 percent.

Rural Labour Force Participation Strengthens

On a year-on-year basis, overall LFPR increased by 0.5 percentage point from 54.9 percent in July 2025.

Rural LFPR rose by 1.1 percentage points to 58 percent, while urban LFPR declined marginally by 0.3 percentage point to 50.4 percent.

Female LFPR Records Significant Rise

Female labour force participation also strengthened, with overall female LFPR rising to 34.4 percent in July from 32.7 percent in June.

Rural female LFPR increased to 38.8 percent from 36.6 percent, while urban female LFPR rose marginally to 25.3 percent from 24.8 percent.

WPR Rises for First Time Since February

Overall WPR rose to 52.5 percent in July, its first increase since February 2026. Rural WPR climbed to 55.4 percent from 53.8 percent, while urban WPR edged up to 47 percent from 46.8 percent.

Female WPR also improved, with rural female WPR rising 2.5 percentage points to 37.2 percent and urban WPR increasing to 23.1 percent. Year-on-year, overall WPR rose 0.5 percentage point, while rural WPR increased 1 percentage point and urban WPR remained unchanged.

Unemployment Rate Falls to 5.1 percent

Overall unemployment among people aged 15 years and above fell to 5.1 percent in July from 5.5 percent in June. Rural unemployment declined to 4.5 percent from 5 percent, while urban unemployment remained stable at 6.7 percent.

Male unemployment fell to 5 percent from 5.3 percent, with rural male unemployment declining to 4.6 percent. Urban male unemployment was broadly stable month-on-month but fell to 5.9 percent from 6.6 percent a year earlier.

Urban Female Unemployment Edges Up

Female unemployment also declined at the overall and rural levels compared with June.

However, urban female unemployment increased to 8.8 percent from 8.4 percent in June and remained broadly in line with the 8.7 percent recorded in July 2025.

PLFS Methodology Revised in 2025

The PLFS is the primary source of data on labour force participation, employment and unemployment in India.

Since January 2025, the survey methodology has been revised to provide monthly and quarterly estimates of key labour market indicators using the Current Weekly Status approach.

(KNN Bureau)