New Delhi: Unemployment rate for persons aged 15 years and above improved marginally to 5.1 per cent in the July-September period from 5.2 per cent a year ago, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey released on Tuesday. According to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), the unemployment rate (UR) or joblessness rate was 5.4 per cent in the April-June quarter this year.
The PLFS conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO) is the primary source of data on activity participation and employment-unemployment conditions.
The survey methodology was modified in January 2025 to provide monthly and quarterly estimates of labour force indicators for rural and urban India under the CWS (current weekly status) framework.
The current Bulletin for July-September 2026 is the sixth in the series.
At the all-India level, the quarterly estimates are based on information collected from 5,55,593 persons surveyed.
According to a press release on the latest PFLS, overall UR for persons aged 15 years and above improved to 5.1 per cent in the current quarter from 5.4 per cent in the previous quarter.
During the same period, rural UR fell to 4.3 per cent from 4.8 per cent, while urban UR remained broadly stable at 6.8 per cent against 6.7 per cent in the previous quarter.
Compared to 4.4 per cent in the corresponding quarter of 2025, the rural UR remained largely unchanged at 4.3 per cent during July-September 2026.
Rural male UR declined by 0.3 percentage points to 4.4 per cent in July-September 2026 from 4.7 per cent in the year-ago period.
Urban UR registered marginal improvements for both male (6.2 per cent to 6.1 per cent) and female (9 per cent to 8.8 per cent) over the same period.
The share of workers in rural areas engaged in self-employment rose to 62.7 per cent in the current quarter from 61.4 per cent in the previous quarter.
In urban areas, the share of regular wage/ salaried workers advanced to 49.6 per cent from 49.3 per cent in the previous quarter.
In rural and urban areas, the share of workers engaged in casual labour declined quarter-on-quarter during July-September 2026.
In rural areas, it decreased from 22.5 per cent to 21.7 per cent, while in urban areas, it declined from 11.1 per cent to 10.7 per cent.
A year-on-year comparison pointed to a reduction in the proportion of workers engaged in casual labour employment.
In rural areas, the share declined by 0.5 percentage points from 22.2 per cent in July-September 2025 to 21.7 per cent a year ago.
Similarly, in urban areas, it decreased marginally by 0.2 percentage points from 10.9 per cent to 10.7 per cent.
In rural areas, the share of workers in self-employment remained stable, while regular wage/ salaried employment increased by 0.6 percentage points over the year.
In urban regions, self-employment increased by 0.4 percentage points, and regular wage/ salaried employment declined marginally year-on-year.
The share of the agriculture sector increased in rural areas, and the tertiary sector remained stable in urban areas, the release said.
The sectoral distribution of employment continued to reflect the distinct rural-urban employment patterns, with the rural workforce predominantly engaged in agriculture and the urban workforce concentrated in the tertiary sector.
In rural areas, the share of workers engaged in agriculture increased from 52.9 per cent in April-June 2026 to 56.7 per cent in July-September 2026.
The share of workers engaged in the secondary sector, including mining and quarrying, stood at 21.9 per cent against 24.4 per cent in the previous quarter.
In the tertiary sector, it is estimated at 21.4 per cent in the current quarter against 22.7 per cent in the last quarter.
Compared to July-September 2025, the share of rural workers engaged in the secondary sector, including mining and quarrying, increased from 21 per cent to 21.9 per cent, while the share in the tertiary sector remained broadly stable, increasing marginally from 21.3 per cent to 21.4 per cent in July-September 2026.
In urban areas, the share of workers engaged in secondary and tertiary sectors remained broadly stable, the release said.
Overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for persons aged 15 years and above increased to 55.5 per cent during July-September 2026 from 54.6 per cent in the previous quarter.
The improvement was driven by an increase in LFPR for both rural and urban areas.
In rural areas, LFPR for persons aged 15 years and above rose to 58.1 per cent in the current quarter from 56.9 per cent in the previous quarter.
Similarly, urban LFPR increased marginally to 50.4 per cent from 50.2 per cent.
The overall female LFPR increased to 34.7 per cent during the current quarter from 33.2 per cent in the previous quarter.
Among males, the urban LFPR registered a marginal increase, reaching 77.3 per cent during the quarter from 77 per cent in April-June, 2026.
On a year-on-year basis, the overall LFPR recorded an increase of 0.4 percentage points, rising from 55.1 per cent in July-September 2025 to 55.5 per cent in July-September 2026.
Rural LFPR also improved by 0.9 percentage points, increasing from 57.2 per cent to 58.1 per cent during the same period, while the urban LFPR declined marginally by 0.3 percentage points.
Overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for persons aged 15 years and above increased to 52.7 per cent during the July-September 2026 quarter from 51.7 per cent in the previous quarter.
WPR in rural areas increased to 55.6 per cent from 54.2 per cent in the last quarter.
In urban areas, WPR remained largely stable at 46.9 per cent during July-September 2026, up from 46.8 per cent in the preceding quarter.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: deccanchronicle.com
