India Unemployment Rate Falls to 8-Month Low as Rural Work & Female Participation Pick Up

India’s unemployment rate dropped to 4.7% in November 2025, the lowest since April, as improving rural employment and a sustained rise in female labour-force participation pushed more people back into work, official data showed on Monday.

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) monthly bulletin said the overall labour-force participation rate climbed to 55.8% in November, driven mainly by a rural recovery.

Rural unemployment eased to 3.9%, its lowest since April, while urban unemployment fell to 6.5%, matching the year’s earlier low. Female participation rose steadily: overall female LFPR reached 35.1% in November, with rural female LFPR jumping to 39.7%, helping narrow the gender gap in unemployment to just 0.2 percentage point (male UR 4.6%, female UR 4.8%). Youth unemployment also moderated, easing to 14.1% from 14.9% in October.

What’s Driving the Improvement?

PLFS data indicate the pickup was broad-based but concentrated in the countryside, where seasonal and non-farm employment strengthened and female labour supply rose. Officials and analysts see the trend as a useful cushion at a time when growth momentum is showing signs of cooling, a dynamic that could help blunt near-term downside risks to household incomes and consumption.

The monthly PLFS series, which was revised in January 2025 to provide higher-frequency estimates, is based on the Current Weekly Status approach. November’s estimates were drawn from a sample of about 3.73 lakh individuals surveyed nationwide; MOSPI’s methodological note on the revised PLFS explains the change in frequency and reporting. Readers should treat month-to-month moves with caution because higher sampling frequency and seasonal patterns can affect short-term volatility.

Future Outlook

Although the headline fall in unemployment is welcome, urban joblessness remains materially above rural levels and structural challenges, such as the need for higher-quality formal jobs and sustained female labour-force integration in cities, persist. Policymakers will watch whether the November gains persist once seasonal effects fade and whether rising participation translates into stable, productive employment.