Unemployment Rate Dips for 2nd Month to 5.1% in Aug: Govt Survey

The unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above declined for the second month in a row in August, to 5.1%, according to an a government survey released on Monday.

The unemployment rate (UR) was 5.2% in July and 5.6% in both May and June, showed the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

The UR was 5.1% in April as per the first PLFS bulletin released in May 2025 "Overall unemployment rate (persons of 15 years and above) declined for the second consecutive month from 5.6% in June 2025 to 5.2% in July 2025 and 5.1% in August 2025," an official statement said.

The latest data collected in current weekly status (CWS) showed that the unemployment rate for persons of age of 15 years and above during worked out at 5.1% in August.

Male unemployment rate in August 2025 was at its lowest of 5% in five months in August 2025. It was 5.2% in April, 5.6% in May and June, and 5.3% in July.

This is due to the fall in UR of males in urban areas from 6.6% in July 2025 to 5.9% in August 2025.

The UR among rural males also declined to 4.5% in August 2025 which is lower than the UR levels of the previous four months.

Overall, rural unemployment rate has declined successively for three months in a row from 5.1% in May 2025 to 4.3% in August 2025 The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) among females has witnessed a rise for two months in a row to 32% in August 2025 from 30.2% recorded in June 2025.

The enhancement in WPR across both rural and urban areas has translated into an improvement in the overall WPR, which has increased to 52.2% in August 2025 from 51.2% in June 2025.

The labour force participation rate (LFPR) among females aged 15 years and above has increased from 32% in June 2025 to 33.7% in August 2025 due to increase in LFPR among rural females from 35.2% in June 2025 to 37.4% and in urban areas from 25.2% to 26.1% during the same period.

Female LFPR increased for the second successive month across rural and urban areas, it stated.

The overall LFPR for persons of age 15 years and above has increased from 54.2% in June to 55% in August 2025.

At the all-India level, the monthly estimates are based on information collected from a total number of persons surveyed 3,76,839.

CWS refers to the activity status determined on the basis of a reference period of the last seven days preceding the date of the survey.

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 from January 2025.