India’s Unemployment Rate Falls to 4.9% in February 2026

India’s unemployment rate fell just marginally to 4.9 percent in February 2026. This data are reveled according to the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the National Statistics Office (NSO). This data shows the slight improvement compared to month of the January 2026. At that time the unemployment rate was 5 percent.

India Unemployment Rate February 2026

The PLFS unemployment data for February 2026 shows the marginal improvement in the country unemployment situation.

This overall unemployment rate is among the individuals which are aged 15 years and above declined to 4.9 percent.

This is like indicating the slight recovery after the increase recorded in January.

This survey highlights that while the improvement was small but the labour market showed stable employment trends across both rural and urban areas.

Urban Unemployment Rate in India Shows Improvement

The urban unemployment rate in India has show the noticeable decline in February 2026.

According to the PLFS unemployment details the urban unemployment rate among persons aged 15 years and above fell to 6.6 percent.

This figure is lower than January 2026 when the urban unemployment rate stood at 6.7 percent.

And this is indicating the slight recovery in employment opportunities in cities.

Rural Unemployment Rate Remains Stable

The rural unemployment rate in India has been the remained stable during February 2026.

This unemployment rate in rural areas stayed unchanged at 4.2 percent.

The data indicate that while urban unemployment declined slightly but the rural unemployment conditions remained steady without major fluctuations.

Female Unemployment Rate Declines Significantly

Under the new PLFS unemployment data main thing is the decline in female unemployment across the country.

The overall female unemployment rate for individuals aged 15 years and above decreased from 5.6 percent in January 2026 to 5.1 percent in February 2026.

Both the rural and urban regions recorded improvements in female employment.

The urban female unemployment rate dropped sharply from 9.8 percent to 8.7 percent.

Also the rural female unemployment rate declined from 4.3 percent to 4.0 percent.

Labour Force Participation Rate in India

The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is the measures the percentage of the population actively working or seeking work.

According to the PLFS labour force data the overall LFPR among persons aged 15 years and above remained unchanged at 55.9 percent in February 2026.

Question

Q. According to the PLFS survey, India’s unemployment rate in February 2026 was,

A. 4.5%
B. 4.9%
C. 5.5%
D. 6.0%