By Dr. Gyan Pathak
With rise in agricultural activities during the reaping of Kharif and sowing of Rabi crops, the unemployment rate in the rural areas of India has witnessed a considerable fall to 3.9 per cent in November 2025 as against 4.4 per cent in October on current weekly status (CWS) basis. Nevertheless, in urban areas, the unemployment rate stood as high as 6.5 per cent in November as against 7 per cent in October. For rural and urban areas combined unemployment rate in CWS came down from 5.2 per cent in October to 4.7 per cent in November.
The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for November 2025 shows that combined unemployment rate for both urban and rural areas among the youth between the age 15-29 remained as high as 14.1 per cent in November, as against 14.9 per cent in October. Male youth unemployment rate in November was 13.4 per cent as against 14 per cent in October, while female youth unemployment rate in November was 16.3 per cent as against 17.1 per cent in October.
Male Unemployment rate for age group 15 years and above stood at 4.6 per cent in November as against 5.1 per cent in October. Female unemployment rate for this age group was 4.8 per cent in November as against 5.4 per cent in October.
In the urban areas, male unemployment rate for the age group 15 years and above was 5.6 per cent and female unemployment rate was 9.3 per cent as against 6.1 per cent and 9.7 per cent in October respectively. Unemployment rate among urban male youth in November was 15.3 per cent as against urban female youth unemployment rate 25.7 per cent.
In the rural areas, male unemployment rate in the age group 15 per cent and above stood at 4.1 per cent as against female unemployment rate of 3.4 per cent. In October, these were 4.6 per cent and 4 per cent respectively. Unemployment rate among rural male youth was 12.4 per cent in November as against 12.5 per cent among female youth.
The combined male and female youth unemployment rate in rural areas in November stood at 12.4 per cent as against 13.2 per cent in October. For urban areas these were 17.8 per cent in November as against 18.4 per cent in October.
The PLFS data for November 2025 shows that female unemployment rate in the urban areas is worse than male unemployment rate, and also worse than the female unemployment rate in the rural areas. Male unemployment rate in the rural areas is little worse than the female unemployment rate there. For both urban and rural areas combined, female unemployment rate is worse than the male unemployment rate.
Worker Population Ration (WPR) in CWS for persons of age 15 years and above at the all-India level was 53.2 per cent in November, 2025. For rural areas it was 56.3 per cent and for urban areas it was 47.1 per cent. Among rural male of this age group, it was 75.4 per cent during the month. For rural female it was found to be 38.4 per cent. In urban areas WPR among female of this age group was 23.1 per cent compared to 70.9 per cent observed for male. WPR in CWS among youth of age 15-29 years was 35.9 per cent – 52.9 per cent for male and 18.9 per cent for female.
Labour force Participation Rate (LFPR) in CWS for persons of age 15 years and above in the country stood at 55.8 per cent in November, 2025. For persons of this age group in rural and urban areas these were 58.6 per cent and 50.4 per cent, respectively. LFPR among rural male of age 15 years and above was 78.7 per cent during November, 2025.For rural female of the same age group, LFPR during November, 2025was found to be 39.7 per cent. In urban areas, LFPR among female of age 15years and above during November, 2025 was25.5 per cent compared to 75.1 per cent observed for male of the same age group. LFPR among youth of age 15-29 years in November stood at 41.8 per cent –61 per cent among male youth and 22.6 per cent for female youth.
LFPR at all India basis for both rural and urban combined for all ages showed a little improvement in November which stood at 42.3 per cent as against 41.8 per cent in October. However for urban areas it remained stagnant at 40.1 per cent for urban areas, while considerably improved in the rural areas to 43.4 per cent in November from 42.6 per cent in October, though the level in not satisfactory. (IPA Service)
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