Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Highlights - September 2025
Context:
The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) is conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation.
It serves as the primary source for data on India's employment and unemployment situation.
Key Highlights
The following are the key findings for September 2025 for persons aged 15 years and above, based on the Current Weekly Status (CWS) approach:
Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR):
The overall LFPR continued its increasing trend.
It reached a 5-month high of 55.3% in September 2025.
Rural LFPR: Increased steadily to 57.4%.
Urban LFPR: Remained unchanged at 50.9%.
Female LFPR:
The participation of women in the labour force continued to grow.
The overall female LFPR reached 34.1% which is the highest level since May 2025.
This growth was primarily driven by the increase in rural female LFPR (which rose for the third consecutive month) to 37.9%.
Worker Population Ratio (WPR):
The overall WPR for September 2025 was reported at 52.4%.
The overall female WPR showed a steady increase for the third straight month, reaching 32.3%.
This was largely due to the increase in the female workforce in rural areas.
Unemployment Rate (UR):
The overall UR saw a marginal increase to 5.2% in September 2025(It is up from 5.1% in August 2025)
Rural UR rose to 4.6% (from 4.3% in August)
Urban UR saw a marginal increase to 6.8% (from 6.7% in August)
The UR among urban females increased to 9.3% in September (from 8.9% in August.)