A.        Introduction

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by NSO, MoSPI, is the primary source of data on activity participation and employment and unemployment conditions 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 (CWS) approach.

The Monthly Bulletins for April, 2025 to June, 2026 have already been released. The present Monthly Bulletin for July, 2026 is the sixteenth in the series.

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

• Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) improved:

The overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for persons aged 15 years and above increased to 55.4% in July, 2026, from 54.4% in June, 2026. After declining from March to May, 2026 and remaining unchanged in June, 2026, the overall LFPR increased in July, 2026. The same trend was also observed in rural areas, where the LFPR for persons aged 15 years and above increased to 58.0% in July, 2026, from 56.6% in June, 2026, registering an increase of 1.4 percentage points. In urban areas, LFPR increased marginally, from 50.1% in June, 2026 to 50.4% in July, 2026.

Compared to the same month of the previous year, the overall LFPR increased by 0.5 percentage point, from 54.9% in July, 2025 to 55.4% in July, 2026. During the same period, rural LFPR also increased by 1.1 percentage points, from 56.9% to 58.0%, while urban LFPR experienced a marginal decline by 0.3 percentage point, from 50.7% to 50.4%.   

• Rise in female labour force participation:

 

The overall female LFPR experienced a noticeable increase from 32.7% in June, 2026 to 34.4% in July, 2026. During the same period, rural female LFPR increased from 36.6% to 38.8% and urban female LFPR increased from 24.8% to 25.3%.

Compared to July, 2025, the overall female LFPR increased by 1.1 percentage points, from 33.3% to 34.4% in July, 2026. In rural areas, female LFPR rose by 1.9 percentage points, from 36.9% to 38.8%, while urban female LFPR declined marginally by 0.5 percentage point, from 25.8% to 25.3%.

 

• Workforce strengthens across sectors:

The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in the age group 15 years and above showed a broadly improving trend in July, 2026 across sectors. The overall WPR increased to 52.5% in July, 2026 from 51.4% in June, 2026. In rural areas, WPR increased to 55.4% in July, 2026 from 53.8% in June, 2026, indicating an increase of 1.6 percentage points. WPR in urban areas increased marginally to 47.0% from 46.8% during the same period. Notably, rural female WPR increased by 2.5 percentage points from 34.7% in June, 2026 to 37.2% in July, 2026 and urban female WPR increased from 22.7% to 23.1% during the same period.

A year-on-year comparison shows that overall WPR is higher by 0.5 percentage point in July, 2026 (52.5%) against July, 2025 (52.0%). While the urban WPR was recorded at the same level (47.0%) during the period, the rural WPR witnessed an increase of 1.0 percentage point (55.4% vs 54.4%).
 

 

 

 

Female WPR in rural areas increased sharply to 37.2% in July, 2026 from 34.7% in the previous month

• Overall Unemployment Rate (UR) declined:

Overall UR among persons of age 15 years and above dropped to 5.1% in July, 2026 from 5.5% in June, 2026. In rural areas, the UR decreased sharply to 4.5% in July, 2026 from 5.0% in the pervious month. During the same period, the urban UR remained almost steady at 6.7% compared to 6.6%.

Compared with July, 2025, the overall UR and rural UR remained broadly stable in July, 2026, whereas the urban UR decreased by 0.5 percentage point from 7.2% in July, 2025 to 6.7% in July, 2026.

The overall UR decreased to 5.1% in July, 2026 from 5.5% in June, 2026

• Rural UR across genders and urban male UR declined:

Among male of age 15 years and above, the overall UR declined from 5.3% in June, 2026 to 5.0% in July, 2026. This is also lower by 0.3 percentage point as compared to July, 2025 (5.3%). The rural male UR declined from 4.9% in June, 2026 to 4.6% in July, 2026 and was at the same level observed in July, 2025. While the urban male UR maintained broad stability in comparison with the previous month, it declined by 0.7 percentage point to 5.9% in July, 2026 against 6.6% in July, 2025.

For female of age 15 years and above, the overall and rural UR in July, 2026 decreased in comparison to June, 2026. However, it remained above the level observed a year ago in July, 2025. The urban female UR increased by 0.4 percentage points to 8.8% in July, 2026 from 8.4% in June, 2026, while it remained broadly stable compared with the July, 2025 level (8.7%).

The overall male and female UR declined in July, 2026 compared to June, 2026

 

At the all-India level, the monthly estimates are based on information collected from a total number of 3,71,021 persons surveyed.
persons surveyed in rural areas 2,11,411	persons surveyed in urban areas 1,59,610

 

The Monthly Bulletin for July, 2026 is available on the Ministry's website (https://www.mospi.gov.in).

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Samrat

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