In January 2026, the National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) released the 9th edition of ‘Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Monthly Bulletin – December 2025’.
- As per the report, Unemployment Rate (UR) among persons aged 15 years and above remained stable at 4.8% in December 2025, compared to 4.7% in November 2025.
Exam Hints:
- What? PLFS Monthly Bulletin – December 2025 released
- Released by: NSO, MoSPI
- Survey Coverage: 3,73,990 persons
- UR: 4.8%, Rural – 3.9%, Urban – 6.7%
- LFPR: 56.1%
- Female LFPR: 35.3%
- WPR: 53.4%
Key Findings:
Monthly PLFS: It presents estimates of key labour market indicators viz. Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and Unemployment Rate (UR) at the all-India level.
Survey Coverage: The December 2025 PLFS monthly estimates are based on a total of 3,73,990 individuals surveyed, comprising 2,13,216 from rural areas and 1,60,774 from urban areas.
UR: The rural UR remained stagnant at 3.9%, while the urban UR increased to 6.7% from 6.5% in the previous month.
- Among rural male aged 15 years and above, the UR remained low and stable at 4.1% in December, 2025.
- The urban female UR moderated to 9.1% in December, 2025, compared to 9.3% in November, 2025.
LFPR: The overall LFPR among persons of age 15 years and above observed as 56.1% in December, 2025 compared to 55.8% in November, 2025, showing an upward trend.
- In rural areas, the LFPR was estimated as 59.0% in December, 2025 in comparison to 58.6% in November, 2025.
- The urban LFPR experienced a slight dip to 50.2% from 50.4% during the same period.
Female LFPR: In December 2025, overall LFPR for female of age 15 years and above edged up to 35.3% from 35.1% in November, 2025.
- Rural female LFPR continued its gradual rise, reaching 40.1% in December, 2025, up from 39.7% in November, 2025.
- In Urban area, it slipped slightly to 25.3% in December 2025 from 25.5% in November 2025.
WPR: The overall WPR for individuals aged 15 years and above, increased from 53.2% in November 2025 to 53.4% in December 2025.
- The overall male WPR stood at 74.1%, with the rural male WPR rising to 76.0% in December 2025 from 75.4% in November 2025, while the urban male WPR declined from 70.9% to 70.4% over the same period.
- The overall female WPR increased to 33.6% in December 2025 from 33.4% in November 2025, with the rural female WPR edging up from 38.4% to 38.6%, while the urban female WPR remained around 23.0%.
Important Terms:
UR: The percentage of people in the labour force who are without work but are available for and actively seeking employment.
WPR: It is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population.
LFPR: It is defined as the percentage of persons in the labour force i.e. working or seeking or available for work, in the population.
