The country’s unemployment rate for those aged 15 and above improved marginally to 5.1 percent in July-September, from 5.2 percent in the same period a year earlier. This information has been given in the Periodic Labor Force Survey (PLFS) released on Tuesday. According to PLFS, the unemployment rate (UR) was 5.4 percent in the April-June quarter this year. The survey, conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO), is the primary source of data on labor force participation and unemployment status. The survey methodology was changed in January 2025 to provide monthly and quarterly estimates of labor force indices for rural and urban India. This latest bulletin for July-September, 2026 is the sixth bulletin in this series.
The rural unemployment rate decreased
At the all-India level, these quarterly estimates are based on data collected from 5,55,593 people surveyed. According to a statement issued on the latest PLFS, the overall unemployment rate for those aged 15 years and above increased to 5.1 percent in the current quarter from 5.4 percent in the previous quarter. During the same period, the rural unemployment rate fell to 4.3 percent from 4.8 percent quarter-on-quarter, while the urban unemployment rate remained largely stable at 6.8 percent compared to 6.7 percent.
The unemployment rate for rural males fell by 0.3 percentage points to 4.4 percent in July-September, 2026 from 4.7 percent in the year-ago period. The urban unemployment rate showed marginal improvement for both males (from 6.2 percent to 6.1 percent) and females (down from nine percent to 8.8 percent).
The share of self-employed workers increased
The share of self-employed workers in rural areas increased from 61.4 percent in the previous quarter to 62.7 percent in the current quarter. The share of regular salaried employees in urban areas increased to 49.6 percent from 49.3 percent in the previous quarter. The share of daily wage workers declined quarter-on-quarter during July-September, 2026, in both rural and urban areas. It decreased from 22.5 percent to 21.7 percent in rural areas while it decreased from 11.1 percent to 10.7 percent in urban areas.
