Unemployment rate dips to 5.2% in July: Govt survey

New Delhi: The rate of unemployment in the country declined to 5.2 per cent in July from 5.6 per cent in June, a government survey said on Monday.

The unemployment rate (UR) in May was also 5.6 per cent, said the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).

The latest data collected in current weekly status (CWS) showed that the unemployment rate for persons of all ages during July worked out at 5.2 per cent.

The pace of joblessness among men stayed slightly higher at 5.3 per cent compared to that of women at 5.1 per cent.

In July, the UR in urban areas for all age groups inched up to 7.2 per cent from 7.1 per cent in June. While in rural, the UR for all age group 4.4 per cent, down from 4.9 per cent in June.

Joblessness among the youth, those in the age group of 15-29, decreased to 14.9 per cent in July from 15.3 per cent in June 2025.

However, the rate of unemployment in urban areas for this age group saw a marginal increase to 19 per cent in July from 18.8 per cent in the preceding month.

In rural areas, the rate for the same group (15-29 years) declined to 13 per cent in July from 13.8 per cent in June.

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 data also showed that the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in CWS among persons of all age groups rose to 41.4 per cent in July 2025 as compared to 41 per cent in June 2025.

In rural areas, the LFPR in CWS of all age groups was 42 per cent, as against 41.5 per cent in the preceding month.

While in urban areas, it stood at 40.1 per cent in July, up from 39.8 per cent in June.

The Worker Population Ratio (WPR), which defines the proportion of those who are employed among the total population, in rural areas among persons aged 15 years and above was 54.4 per cent during July 2025, up from 53.3 per cent in June.

For the same age group, WPR in urban areas was 47 per cent in July.

The overall WPR at the country level was 52 per cent, as compared to 51.2 per cent observed during June.

Considering the need for high-frequency labour force indicators with enhanced coverage, the sampling methodology of PLFS has been revamped from January 2025.

At an all-India level, 7,519 first-stage sampling units were surveyed in July.

The number of households surveyed was 89,505 (49,355 in rural areas and 40,150 in urban areas), and the number of persons surveyed was 3,79,222 (2,16,832 in rural areas and 1,62,390 in urban areas).