Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation

PERIODIC LABOUR FORCE SURVEY (PLFS) Monthly Bulletin October, 2025

Overall LFPR showed upward momentum Female WPR continues to rise Unemployment Rate remains stable in October

Posted On: 17 NOV 2025 4:00PM by PIB Delhi

Snapshot:

Increasing trend in Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for persons of age 15 years and above was observed. Overall LFPR reached the 6-month high level of 55.4% in October, 2025.
Participation of female in labour force observed consistent increase for the past four months for persons aged 15 years and above.
The overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in October, 2025 reported as 52.5% which is consistently rising since June, 2025 among persons of age 15 years and above.
Overall WPR among female of age 15 years and above has steadily increased for the fourth month in a row.
The Unemployment Rate (UR) for persons aged 15 years and above remained steady at 5.2% in October, 2025, the same as in September, 2025.

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 September 2025 have already been released. The present Monthly Bulletin for the month of October 2025 is the seventh in the series.

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

Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) rises steadily:

The overall LFPR among persons of age 15 years and above continued to increase for the four successive months to 55.4% in October, 2025 from 54.2% in June, 2025. The LFPR in rural areas has also increased steadily from 56.1% observed in June, 2025 to 57.8% in October, 2025.

Overall LFPR reached a six-month high of 55.4% in October, 2025

Growth continues in female labour force participation: The overall LFPR among female aged 15 years and above reached 34.2% in October, 2025 marking the highest since May, 2025 driven by the increase in female LFPR in rural areas.

Overall female LFPR showed an increasing trend from 32.0% in June, 2025 to 34.2% in October, 2025

Female worker growth drives overall workforce increase: The overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in October, 2025 was 52.5%, which is consistently rising since June, 2025. Rise in the female workforce in rural areas has brought about this increase. Overall WPR among female of age 15 years and above increased steadily for the fourth month in a row, rising from 30.2% in June, 2025 to 32.4% in October, 2025.

The female workforce in rural areas has increased consistently for four months, reaching 36.9% in October, 2025 from 33.6% in June, 2025.

Overall Unemployment Rate (UR) remains unchanged: The UR among persons of age 15 years and above remained unchanged at 5.2% between September, 2025 and October, 2025. A marginal decline in the rural Unemployment Rate (UR), from 4.6% in September, 2025 to 4.4% in October, 2025, coupled with a moderate rise in urban UR from 6.8% to 7.0%, resulted in overall stability in the unemployment rate among persons aged 15 years and above.

Unemployment Rate (UR) among female decreases:

UR among female of age 15 years and above declined to 5.4% in October, 2025 from 5.5% observed during September, 2025. The drop in UR among rural female, from 4.3% in September, 2025 to 4.0% in October, 2025, mainly contributed towards decline in overall female UR.

Male UR has remained stable at 5.1% in October, 2025 as compared to previous month. A minor decrease in rural male UR, from 4.7% in September, 2025 to 4.6% in October, 2025, was offset by a slight rise in urban male UR from 6.0% to 6.1% during the same period, which contributed to overall stability.