India's unemployment rate stays almost flat in April-June: Govt survey

New Delhi: The pace of joblessness as well as the ratio of workers' population in India stayed almost flat year-on-year during the April-June quarter of this fiscal, reflecting no sign of expansion or contraction in the country's job market.

The rate of unemployment, which measures the working-age population without jobs, stood at 5.5 percent in the reporting quarter compared to 5.6 percent a year ago, showed the latest data released by the statistics ministry on Monday.

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The overall worker population ratio remained unchanged at 51.4 percent in June 2026, compared to the previous month and registered a slight increase of 0.2 percentage points from 51.2 percent recorded in June 2025, the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI) said in a statement.

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO) under the ministry, which measures unemployment and participation of workers in the overall labour force, also found a steady condition in the country's urban job market.

On a year-on-year basis, the urban unemployment rate declined from 7.1 percent in June last year to 6.6 percent in June 2026. The rural unemployment rate remained broadly stable over the same period.

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The overall labour force participation rate (LFPR), which measures the working-age population engaged in jobs or actively looking for work, stood at 54.4 percent in June this year, unchanged from the previous month and marginally higher than 54.2 percent recorded in June, 2025, the data showed.

Female LFPR was observed at 32.7 percent in June, 2026 against 32.8 percent in May, 2026, remaining 0.7 percentage points above its level in the corresponding month of the previous year (32.0 percent), the ministry said.

The survey also found that the gender gap in rural labour force participation narrowed compared to urban areas.

In rural areas, female LFPR rose to 36.6 percent in June this year, higher by 1.4 percentage points compared to 35.2 percent in June, 2025.

In contrast, female participation moderated slightly to 24.8 percent in urban areas during the period against 25.2 percent recorded in June last year.

The overall worker population ratio (WPR) in rural areas remained steady at 53.8 percent, unchanged from the previous month and 0.5 percentage points higher than 53.3 percent recorded in June last year. It showed a marginal improvement in urban areas, rising to 46.8 percent in June 2026 from 46.6 percent in the preceding month.

The absolute number of workers aged 15 years and above has been estimated using the projected population figures of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), the statistics ministry said.

On average, 56.6 crore persons aged 15 years and above were employed in the country during April-June 2026, of which 40.2 crore were male and 16.4 crore were female.

At the all-India level, the quarterly estimates are based on information collected from a total of 5,59,673 persons surveyed.

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