Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Monthly Bulletin October 2025
The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) is one of India’s most important tools for understanding employment, unemployment, and labour market trends. Conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI), the survey tracks how people participate in economic activities.
Since January 2025, the PLFS has adopted a new methodology to provide monthly and quarterly labour market estimates using the Current Weekly Status (CWS) approach.
The October 2025 Monthly Bulletin is the seventh report in this updated series and covers key indicators such as:
Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR)
Worker Population Ratio (WPR)
Unemployment Rate (UR)
This report focuses on people aged 15 years and above, both in rural and urban areas.
LFPR indicates the percentage of people who are either working or actively looking for work. It reflects how many individuals are participating in economic activities.
The overall LFPR increased to 55.4%, reaching its highest level in six months. This improvement continues the positive trend seen over the past four months.
Rural areas showed a stronger improvement:
This indicates that more people in villages are participating in work-related activities.
One of the most encouraging findings in the October bulletin is the consistent rise in female participation in the labour force.
This is the highest recorded since May 2025, showing that more women—especially in rural areas—are entering the workforce or actively seeking work.
The growth is mainly driven by rural women, reflecting expanded opportunities and active workforce involvement.
WPR measures the percentage of people who are actually working among the total population aged 15 years and above.
The overall WPR touched 52.5% in October 2025, continuing its rise from June 2025.
This shows that not only are more people participating in the labour force, but a higher number of them now have jobs.
Female employment also showed a positive pattern:
Again, rural areas contributed significantly to this improvement.
This suggests that female participation in rural workforce activities—such as agriculture, self-employment, and informal sector work—has increased steadily for four months in a row.
The Unemployment Rate (UR) reflects the percentage of people who are willing to work and are actively looking for jobs but cannot find employment.
The national unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.2%, the same as in September 2025.
These opposite movements balanced each other, keeping the overall unemployment rate stable.
The drop was mainly due to a decline in rural female unemployment, which went down from 4.3% to 4.0%.
This indicates better work opportunities or increased participation in rural regions among women.
Male unemployment remained steady at 5.1%.
This resulted in overall stability for the male unemployment rate.
The October 2025 estimates are based on data collected from:
This large sample ensures reliable and comprehensive national-level employment insights.
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