Unemployment Rate in urban areas shows declining trend
Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation data showed today that India’s Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) remained steady. The overall LFPR among persons of age 15 years and above estimated at 55.5% in January-March, 2026, compared to 55.8% in the previous quarter. In rural areas, LFPR for persons of age 15 years and above observed as 58.2% in the present quarter while it stood at 58.4% in October-December, 2025. Urban LFPR for the same age group was 50.2% in January-March, 2026 compared to 50.4% observed in the preceding quarter.
The overall LFPR of female aged 15 years and above remained broadly stable, recording 34.7% in January-March, 2026 compared to 34.9% in the previous quarter. During the current quarter, female LFPR in rural areas was estimated at 39.2% as against 39.4% in the preceding quarter, while in urban areas it stood at 25.4% compared to 25.5%.
The overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for persons of age 15 years and above stood at 52.8% in January-March, 2026 compared to 53.1% in October-December, 2025. While rural WPR marginally declined to 55.7% in this quarter from 56.1% in the previous quarter, urban WPR maintained its stability at 46.9% in the current quarter compared to 47.1% in the preceding quarter.
In rural areas, regular wage/salaried employees showed an upward movement, up to 15.5% during January-March, 2026 from 14.8% of the previous quarter. Share of self-employed persons aged 15 years and above declined to 62.5% during the quarter from 63.2% in October-December, 2025. In urban areas, the distribution of workers across different status remained broadly stable compared to the previous quarter.
The ministry noted that overall Unemployment Rate (UR) in urban areas exhibited declining trend. Overall UR in urban areas for persons of age 15 years and above exhibited declining trend during the quarter January-March, 2026 compared to the last two quarters. It stood at 6.6% during the present quarter compared to 6.7% in the previous quarter while it edged up marginally to 4.3% from 4.0% in rural areas.
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