PLFS Quarterly Bulletin July–September 2026: LFPR Rises to 55.5%, Unemployment Rate Falls to 5.1%

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) reported the positive results from key labour force indicators on 10th of November 2026. The overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) was 55.5% while the Worker Population Ratio (WPR) stood at 52.7%. This was driven by reduced unemployment in rural areas while participation of workers increased in these areas. The overall Unemployment Rate (UR) was down at 5.1%.

Key Highlights – PLFS July-September 2026

Labour Force Participation Rate	July-Sept 2026	Previous Quarter
Overall LFPR	55.5%	54.6%
Rural LFPR	58.1%	56.9%
Urban LFPR	50.4%	50.2%
Worker Population Ratio – Overall WPR	52.7%	51.7%
Rural WPR	55.6%	54.2%
Urban WPR	46.9%	46.8%
Unemployment Rate Overall UR	5.1%	5.4%
Rural UR	4.3%	4.8%
Urban UR	6.8%	6.7%

What is the PLFS?

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) is run by the National Statistical Office (NSO) under the MoSPI. It is the main source of information for employment, unemployment and labour force participation rates in India.

The survey provides data on,

• Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) – The percentage of people who are part of the labour force (employed and unemployed people looking for or available to work).
• Worker Population Ratio (WPR) – The percentage of people who are employed in the overall population.
• Unemployment Rate (UR) – The percentage of people who are unemployed.

Changes to the PLFS from January 2025

The methodology used to collect samples for the PLFS has been updated from January 2025 to give more frequent and extensive data on employment and unemployment.

This new methodology will allow,

• Monthly estimates of LFPR, WPR and UR for rural and urban areas across the country.
• Quarterly estimates for rural areas.
• Annual estimates for rural and urban areas under Usual Status and Current Weekly Status.

Prior to the update, the PLFS reports published up until December 2024 only provided estimates for urban areas. The first report providing quarterly estimates for rural and urban areas was the April-June 2025 report. This is the sixth report following the updates.

Labour Force Participation Rate Improved

The overall Labour Force Participation Rate for those aged 15 years and over increased from 54.6% (April-June 2026) to 55.5% (July-Sept 2026).

• Rural LFPR improved to 58.1% from 56.9%.
• Urban LFPR increased slightly to 50.4% from 50.2%.
• Female LFPR increased to 34.7% from 33.2%.
• Urban Male LFPR improved to 77.3% from 77.0%.
• Overall LFPR increased by 0.4% year-on-year (from 55.1% in July-Sept 2025). Rural LFPR increased by 0.9% while urban LFPR decreased slightly by 0.3%.

Worker Population Ratio Increased to 52.7%

The overall Worker Population Ratio for those aged 15 years and over increased from 51.7% (previous quarter) to 52.7% (July-Sept 2026).

Rural WPR increased substantially to 55.6% (up by 1.4%). Urban WPR remained steady at 46.9%.

Male and Female WPR both increased.

Category	April-Jun 2026	July-Sep 2026
Male	73.0%	73.4%
Female	31.3%	32.8%

Overall WPR increased by 0.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Rural WPR increased by 0.9% while urban WPR remained steady.

Unemployment Rate Decreased

The overall unemployment rate for those aged 15 years and over fell to 5.1% (July-Sept 2026) from 5.4% (April-Jun 2026).

Rural unemployment decreased to 4.3% (from 4.8%) while urban unemployment increased slightly to 6.8% (from 6.7%).

Year-on-year rural unemployment remained steady with 4.3% (down from 4.4% July-Sept 2025).

Urban unemployment slightly improved.

• Urban Male UR fell to 6.1% (from 6.2%).
• Urban Female UR fell to 8.8% (from 9.0%).

Self-Employment and Regular Wage/Salary Jobs

The breakdown of employment types varied between the rural and urban areas.

Category	Rural July-Sep 2026	Urban July-Sep 2026
Self-Employed	62.7%	—
Regular Wage/Salary	—	49.6%
Casual Labour	21.7%	10.7%

Self-Employed increased in rural areas to 62.7% (from 61.4% previous quarter). Regular Wage/Salary increased in urban areas to 49.6% (from 49.3%).

Casual Labour decreased in both areas.

• Rural Casual Labour decreased to 21.7% (from 22.5%).
• Urban Casual Labour decreased to 10.7% (from 11.1%).

More People Working in Rural Agricultural Jobs

Sector breakdown of employment continued to differ between rural and urban areas. Agriculture remained the largest source of employment in rural areas whilst tertiary employment remained dominant in urban areas.

The percentage of people working in agriculture in rural areas increased to 56.7% (July-Sept 2026) which is (up 3.8% from 52.9% April-Jun 2026).

Rural Sector	July-Sep 2026	April-Jun 2026
Agriculture	56.7%	52.9%
Secondary Sector	21.9%	24.4%
Tertiary Sector	21.4%	22.7%

The percentage of employment in the secondary sector decreased. This includes mining/Quarrying, manufacturing, electricity, water supply and construction. The tertiary sector includes service type jobs such as trade, transport, finance, education and health.

Year-on-year employment in the secondary sector increased to 21.9% (from 21.0%). Employment in the tertiary sector remained steady at 21.4%. Employment in the secondary and tertiary sectors remained steady in urban areas.

Estimated Number of Workers in India

The July-Sept 2026 report also provided estimates on how many people aged 15 years and over were employed. This was calculated using projected population numbers provided by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW).

On average there were 57.9 crore employed during this quarter.

Category	Number of Workers
Total Workers	57.9 Crore
Male Workers	40.5 Crore
Female Workers	17.4 Crore