First-ever monthly job data shows India’s unemployment rate at 5.1%

The rate of unemployment in the country, measured in monthly term for the first time, stood at 5.1 per cent in April this year, showed the government data released on Thursday.

The Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation released the first monthly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) as part of efforts to monitor the proportion of unemployed people among those eligible for jobs in the country in real time.

Until now, the labour force survey was released on a quarterly as well as annual basis.

The latest data collected in current weekly status (CWS) showed that unemployment rate for persons of all ages during April 2025 worked out to be 5.1 per cent in April 2025. The pace of joblessness among men stayed slightly higher at 5.2 per cent compared to that of women at 5 per cent.

Joblessness among those in the age group of 15-29 was 13.8 per cent across the country. The rate of unemployment in urban areas stood at 17.2 per cent, while it was 12.3 per cent in rural areas.

Worker Population Ratio (WPR) defines the proportion of those who are employed among total population. WPR in rural areas among those aged 15 years and above was 55.4 per cent in April, the data showed. The ratio in urban areas was 47.4 per cent, while the overall WPR at the national level was recorded at 52.8 per cent last month.