A.         Introduction

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by NSO, MoSPI is the primary source of data on activity participation and employment unemployment condition of the population. The PLFS survey methodology has been modified from January 2025 to provide monthly and quarterly estimates of labour force indicators for the country.

Monthly results of PLFS are released in the form of Monthly Bulletins. It presents estimates of key labour market indicators viz. Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and Unemployment Rate (UR) at the all-India level following the Current Weekly Status[1] (CWS) approach.

The Monthly Bulletins for the months April 2025 to August 2025 have already been released. The present Monthly Bulletin for the month of September 2025 is the sixth in the series.

 

Key findings for persons of age 15 years and above following CWS:

• Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) increasing trend continues:

The overall LFPR among persons of age 15 years and above continued to increase for the third month in a row as it climbed up from 54.2% in June 2025 to 55.3% in September 2025. The LFPR in rural areas has also increased steadily from 56.1% observed in June 2025 to 57.4% in September 2025. The LFPR in urban areas has remained unchanged at 50.9% compared to August 2025 for persons of age 15 years and above.

 

 

Overall LFPR reached the 5-month high level of 55.3% in September 2025

• Participation of female in labour force continues to grow: The overall LFPR among female of age 15 years and above in September 2025 was 34.1% and it was the highest level of female LFPR observed since May 2025.  This was contributed by the increase in female LFPR in rural areas which improved for the third successive month from 35.2% in June 2025 to 37.9% in September 2025.

 

Overall female LFPR has increased successively for three months in a row from 32.0% in June 2025 to 34.1% in September 2025

 

• Rise in workforce contributed by the growth in female workers: The overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in September 2025 was 52.4%, the highest level recorded since May 2025. Rise in the female workforce especially in rural areas has brought about this increase.  Overall WPR among female of age 15 years and above has steadily increased for the third month in a row from 30.2% in June 2025 to 32.3% in September 2025.

The female workforce in rural areas has increased for the last three successive months from 33.6% in June 2025 to 36.3% in September 2025

 

 

• Overall Unemployment Rate (UR) rises: The UR among persons of age 15 years and above climbed up marginally to 5.2% in September 2025 from 5.1% recorded in August 2025 after declining during the past two successive months. Rise in UR in rural areas (from 4.3% in August 2025 to 4.6% in September 2025) and marginal increase in UR in urban areas (from 6.7% in August 2025 to 6.8% in September 2025) among persons of age 15 years and above contributed to this increase in overall UR.

 

 

• Unemployment Rate (UR) among urban female increases:

UR among urban female of age 15 years and above increased to 9.3% in September 2025 from 8.9% observed during August 2025. This rise in UR among rural female has also contributed to the rise in overall female UR from 5.2% in August 2025 to 5.5% recorded in September.

Male UR has also seen moderate increase across both rural (from 4.5% in August 2025 to 4.7% in September 2025) and urban areas (from 5.9% in August 2025 to 6.0% in September 2025) during September 2025 after declining during August 2025.

 

At the all-India level, the monthly estimates are based on information collected from a total number of persons surveyed 3,75,703
persons surveyed in rural areas 2,15,051	persons surveyed in urban areas 1,60,652

 

The Monthly Bulletin for the month September 2025 is available at the website of the Ministry in the following link : https://new.mospi.gov.in/publications-reports

Scan the below QR code to access the Publications/ Reports

 

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