Key findings

 

• Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in Current Weekly Status (CWS) among persons of age 15 years and above was 54.2 % during June 2025 as compared to 54.8% during May, 2025. LFPR in rural areas was 56.1% and LFPR in urban areas was 50.4% during June, 2025 for persons of the same age group.
• LFPR in CWS for male of age 15 years and above in rural and urban areas were respectively 78.1% and 75.0% during June, 2025 which marked a marginal decline from the corresponding LFPR estimates of 78.3% and 75.1% respectively for rural and urban areas during May, 2025.
• LFPR among female of age 15 years and above for rural areas was 35.2% during June, 2025.
• Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in CWS in rural areas among persons of age 15 years and above was 53.3% during June, 2025. WPR in urban areas among persons of the same age group was 46.8% in June 2025 with the overall WPR at the country level observed as 51.2% during June, 2025 as compared to 51.7% observed during May, 2025.
• WPR for female of age 15 years and above for rural and urban areas were respectively 33.6% and 22.9% in June, 2025 and the overall female WPR of the same age group at the country level was observed as 30.2%.
• Unemployment Rate (UR) in CWS among persons of age 15 years and above has remained same as 5.6% in May, 2025 and June, 2025.
• Key findings and survey methodologies are given at Annexure I and II

Brief on the results of PLFS Monthly Bulletin for June 2025

 

• The marginal decline in LFPR and WPR in June 2025 was largely influenced by seasonal agricultural patterns, intense summer heat limiting outdoor physical work, and a shift of some unpaid helpers, particularly from higher-income rural households, towards domestic chores.

 

• This trend was more pronounced among rural females, where over a 1-percentage point decline in workforce participation was observed compared to May 2025, primarily due to a reduction in unpaid helpers typically engaged in agricultural work. Data shows that several unpaid helpers in June 2025 reported themselves as engaged in domestic duties, contributing to a decline in the labour force, especially among higher-income rural households.

 

• Additionally, the share of rural female workers in agriculture dropped from 70.2% in May to 69.8% in June 2025, indicating that reduced need for agricultural engagement among women, perhaps due to a decline in rural inflation.

 

• The decrease in the unemployment rate for rural areas for both male and female can be attributed to an increase in the share of own-account workers in June 2025 compared to May 2025, along with a reduction in the number of unemployed persons. The rise in own-account work during this period may be driven by seasonal factors, prompting individuals to engage in small-scale or self-initiated activities (e.g., petty trade, repair work, or services).

Annexure-I

Key Findings of PLFS, Monthly Bulletin (June 2025)

 

Statement 1: Labour Force Participation Rate (in per cent) in CWS
sector	survey month	male	female	person
	age group: 15-29 years
rural	April 2025	63.5	23.8	43.4
	May 2025	63.1	22.9	42.7
	June 2025	62.0	20.5	41.1
	age group: 15 years and above
	April 2025	79.0	38.2	58.0
	May 2025	78.3	36.9	56.9
	June 2025	78.1	35.2	56.1
	age group: all age
	April 2025	57.5	28.8	42.9
	May 2025	57.0	27.8	42.2
	June 2025	56.9	26.5	41.5
urban	age group: 15-29 years
	April 2025	59.1	21.5	41.2
	May 2025	58.6	21.3	40.8
	June 2025	58.9	20.6	40.8
	age group: 15 years and above
	April 2025	75.3	25.7	50.7
	May 2025	75.1	25.3	50.4
	June 2025	75.0	25.2	50.4
	age group: all age
	April 2025	58.5	20.5	39.9
	May 2025	58.5	20.2	39.7
	June 2025	58.6	20.2	39.8
rural + urban	age group: 15-29 years
	April 2025	62.0	23.1	42.7
	May 2025	61.6	22.4	42.1
	June 2025	61.0	20.6	41.0
	age group: 15 years and above
	April 2025	77.7	34.2	55.6
	May 2025	77.2	33.2	54.8
	June 2025	77.1	32.0	54.2
	age group: all age
	April 2025	57.8	26.2	42.0
	May 2025	57.5	25.5	41.4
	June 2025	57.4	24.5	41.0

Statement 2: Worker Population Ratio (in per cent) in CWS
sector	survey month	male	female	person
	age group: 15-29 years
rural	April 2025	55.3	21.2	38.0
	May 2025	54.3	19.9	36.8
	June 2025	53.5	17.7	35.5
	age group: 15 years and above
	April 2025	75.1	36.8	55.4
	May 2025	74.2	35.2	54.1
	June 2025	74.1	33.6	53.3
	age group: all age
	April 2025	54.7	27.7	41.0
	May 2025	53.9	26.5	40.0
	June 2025	54.0	25.3	39.5
urban	age group: 15-29 years
	April 2025	50.2	16.4	34.1
	May 2025	49.4	16.1	33.5
	June 2025	49.1	15.3	33.1
	age group: 15 years and above
	April 2025	71.0	23.5	47.4
	May 2025	70.5	23.0	46.9
	June 2025	70.2	22.9	46.8
	age group: all age
	April 2025	55.1	18.7	37.3
	May 2025	54.9	18.3	36.9
	June 2025	54.8	18.3	37.0
rural + urban	age group: 15-29 years
	April 2025	53.6	19.8	36.8
	May 2025	52.6	18.8	35.8
	June 2025	52.0	17.0	34.7
	age group: 15 years and above
	April 2025	73.7	32.5	52.8
	May 2025	72.9	31.3	51.7
	June 2025	72.8	30.2	51.2
	age group: all age
	April 2025	54.8	24.9	39.8
	May 2025	54.2	24.0	39.0
	June 2025	54.2	23.2	38.7

 

Statement 3: Unemployment Rate (in per cent) in CWS
sector	survey month	male	female	person
	age group: 15-29 years
rural	April 2025	13.0	10.7	12.3
	May 2025	14.0	13.0	13.7
	June 2025	13.8	13.7	13.8
	age group: 15 years and above
	April 2025	4.9	3.9	4.5
	May 2025	5.3	4.7	5.1
	June 2025	5.1	4.4	4.9
	age group: all age
	April 2025	4.9	3.8	4.5
	May 2025	5.3	4.7	5.1
	June 2025	5.1	4.4	4.9
urban	age group: 15-29 years
	April 2025	15.0	23.7	17.2
	May 2025	15.8	24.4	17.9
	June 2025	16.6	25.8	18.8
	age group: 15 years and above
	April 2025	5.8	8.7	6.5
	May 2025	6.2	9.1	6.9
	June 2025	6.4	9.1	7.1
	age group: all age
	April 2025	5.8	8.7	6.5
	May 2025	6.2	9.1	6.9
	June 2025	6.4	9.1	7.1
rural + urban	age group: 15-29 years
	April 2025	13.6	14.4	13.8
	May 2025	14.5	16.3	15.0
	June 2025	14.7	17.4	15.3
	age group: 15 years and above
	April 2025	5.2	5.0	5.1
	May 2025	5.6	5.8	5.6
	June 2025	5.6	5.6	5.6
	age group: all age
	April 2025	5.2	5.0	5.1
	May 2025	5.6	5.7	5.6
	June 2025	5.6	5.6	5.6

 

 

Annexure - II

A.  Introduction

 

Considering the need for generation of high frequency labour force indicators with enhanced coverage the sampling methodology of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) has been revamped from January 2025. The revamped PLFS design is envisaged to address the following objectives:

• to estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators (viz. Labour Force Participation Rate, Worker   Population Ratio and Unemployment Rate) on a monthly basis for rural and urban areas in the Current Weekly Status (CWS) at all India level

· to extend the coverage of the Quarterly results of PLFS to rural areas and thereby producing quarterly estimates covering both rural and urban parts of India in the Current Weekly Status (CWS)

 

· to estimate important employment and unemployment indicators in both usual status (ps+ss) and CWS in both rural and urban areas annually.

 

The monthly results are released in the form of Monthly Bulletins of PLFS. The monthly Bulletin for the month April, 2025 and May, 2025 have already been released. The present monthly Bulletin for the month of June, 2025 is the third in the series of monthly Bulletins.

B.        Sample Design of PLFS

A rotational panel sampling design has been adopted in PLFS for both rural and urban areas from January, 2025.  In this rotational panel scheme, each selected household is visited four times in four consecutive months – one with first visit schedule and other three with the revisit schedule. The scheme of rotation ensures that 75% of the first-stage sampling units (FSUs) are matched between two consecutive months.

C.        Sample Size

At the all-India level, a total number of 7,520 FSUs (4,144 census village or sub-unit as the case may be for rural areas and 3,376 UFS block or sub-unit as the case may be in urban areas) have been surveyed during the quarter June, 2025. The number of households surveyed was 89,493 (49,335 in rural areas and 40,158 in urban areas) and number of persons surveyed was 3,80,538 (2,17,251 in rural areas and 1,63,287 in urban areas)

 

1. Conceptual Framework of Key Employment and Unemployment Indicators for the Quarterly Bulletin: The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) gives estimates of key employment and unemployment Indicators like the Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR), Unemployment Rate (UR), etc. These indicators, and ‘Current Weekly Status’ are defined as follows:

 

1. Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): LFPR is defined as the percentage of persons in labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population.

 

2. Worker Population Ratio (WPR): WPR is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population.

 

3. Unemployment Rate (UR): UR is defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force.

 

4. Current Weekly Status (CWS): The activity status determined on the basis of a reference period of last 7 days preceding the date of survey is known as the current weekly status (CWS) of the person.

 

The Monthly Bulletin for the month June 2025 is available at the website of the Ministry (https://mospi.gov.in). The key results are given in the statements annexed.

D. Comparability of monthly estimates with previously released estimates of PLFS

The sample design of the Periodic Labour Survey (PLFS) has been revamped from January 2025. As part of revamping of the sample design monthly rotational panel scheme has been implemented for both rural and urban areas wherein each selected household is visited four times in four consecutive months – one with first visit schedule and other three with the revisit schedule in the following three months. The aspects related to the multistage stratified design followed in PLFS like the choice of First stage Units (FSU) to be surveyed, the primary geographical unit (i.e. basic stratum) from which FSUs are selected, stratification rules applied to FSUs and sampling selection method for selecting FSUs have been changed. The number of households to be surveyed within a selected FSU has been increased from 8 to 12 households.

In addition, some changes have also been incorporated in the structure of the Schedule of inquiry. The details of the revamped PLFS sample design and changes made in the Schedule of inquiry have been provided in the PLFS release titled PLFS: Changes in 2025.  Users of PLFS results need to consider the changes implemented in PLFS from January 2025 while comparing PLFS results with estimates released through PLFS publications up to December, 2024. The results of the PLFS post January 2025 thus need to be understood and used in the context with which the sample selection methodology of PLFS has been designed.

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(Release ID: 2144849)