Press Release: Press Information Bureau

Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation

PERIODIC LABOUR FORCE SURVEY (PLFS) Monthly Bulletin August 2025

Male Unemployment Rate hits a five-month low

Female work force Sustained Momentum- rise in two successive months

Upward Trend in Female Labour Force- Two-Months consecutive increase

Posted On: 15 SEP 2025 4:00PM by PIB Delhi

Snapshot:

Labour Market Shows Positive Momentum in August 2025
Overall unemployment rate (persons of 15 years and above) declined for the second consecutive month from 5.6% in June 2025 to 5.2% in July 2025 and 5.1% in August 2025
Male unemployment rate in August 2025 following CWS at its lowest (5%) in five months
Female Worker Population Ratio (WPR) rose to 32.0% in August 2025 from 31.6% in July 2025 and 30.2% in June 2025
Overall WPR rose to 52.2% in August 2025 from 52 in July 2025 and 51.2% in June 2025
Female Labour Force Participation Rate rises to 33.7% in August 2025 from 33.3% in July 2025 and 32.0% in June 2025

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[1] (CWS) approach.

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

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

Unemployment Rate (UR) among male easing to 5-month low level:

The UR among male of age 15 years and above has declined to 5.0% in August 2025, the lowest level observed since April 2025. This is due to the fall in UR of male in urban areas from 6.6% in July 2025 to 5.9% in August 2025. The UR among rural male has also declined to 4.5% in August 2025 which is lower than the UR levels of previous four months observed for rural male.

UR among male declined to 5-month low level of

5.0% in August 2025

Overall rural unemployment rate has declined successively for three months in a row from 5.1% in May 2025 to 4.3% in August 2025

Overall UR declines for the second successive month: The overall UR among persons of age 15 years and above has declined for the second successive month to 5.1% in August 2025 from 5.6% recorded in June 2025.
Rise in female workforce for two months in a row: The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) among female has witnessed rise for two months in a row to 32.0% in August 2025 from 30.2% recorded in June 2025.

The female workforce has increased in both rural and urban areas for the last two successive months
In rural areas it has gone up from 33.6% in June 2025 to 35.9% in August 2025	In urban areas it has increased from 22.9% in June 2025 to 23.8% in August 2025

Overall WPR improves: The enhancement in WPR across both rural and urban areas has translated into an improvement in the overall WPR, which has increased to 52.2% in August 2025 from 51.2% in June 2025.
Female LFPR rises for the second successive month:
LFPR among females aged 15 years and above has increased from 32.0% in June 2025 to 33.7% in August 2025 due to increase in LFPR among rural females from 35.2% in June 2025 to 37.4% and in urban areas from 25.2% to 26.1% during the same period.

Female LFPR increased for the second successive month across rural and urban areas

Rise in Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): The overall LFPR for persons of age 15 years and above has increased from 54.2% in June 2025 to 55% in August 2025.