Unemployment In Million-Plus Cities Higher Than Urban India
By Dr. Gyan Pathak
Unemployment rate in million-plus cities is higher under the usual status at 4.9 per cent compared to 4.8 per cent in urban India, while stark inequality in earnings also persists among various categories – such as casual and regular wage workers within, and in comparison to both areas.
The report titled “Labour Market Dynamics in Million-plus Cities” released recently for the year 2025 by National Statistics Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation revealed that female unemployment was higher at 6.4 per cent in usual status in urban India compared to 6.1 per cent in million-plus cities. Male unemployment in usual status was higher at 4.5 per cent in million-plus cities while it was lower at 4.2 per cent in urban India.
However, in Current Weekly Status (CWS) the unemployment rate in both urban and million-plus cities India was as high as 6.8 per cent. In million-plus cities unemployment rate in CWS for male was 6.2 per cent and for female it was as high as 8.8 per cent. In urban India, unemployment rate in CWS for male was 6.1 per cent and for female 8.9 per cent.
A comparison of wages/ earnings indicates that workers in million-plus cities enjoyed a clear earnings advantage over the urban India average across all employment categories. Self-employed workers earned ₹30,858 compared to ₹23,013 in urban India, while regular wage/salaried employees received ₹28,808 against ₹26,258 and casual labour earned ₹624 per day compared to ₹550. The earnings premium was observed for both male and female; however, it was particularly pronounced among female workers. Female self-employed workers earned about 58% more than their urban India counterparts, while female casual labour earned about 18% higher daily wages.
Workers in million-plus cities on average worked for 49.5 hours per week compared to 47.1 hours in urban India. Both male and female workers in million-plus cities reported higher average hours worked than workers in urban India across all employment categories.
In million-plus cities, the NEET (not in Employment, Education, and Training) estimate among youth is lower than that of urban India, with 16.4% for the 15–24 age group and 22.2% for the 15–29 age group, compared to 18.9% and 25.0%, respectively, in urban India. Female NEET estimates remain consistently lower across all age groups, except the age group 30-59 years, in million-plus cities compared to urban India.
In Million-plus cities, under usual status, WPR was marginally lower as compared to urban India for both male (72.6% vs 73.0%) and female (25.5% vs 25.9%). Under the current weekly status (CWS), however, the gap narrowed considerably, with male participation at 70.6% versus 70.7% and female participation at 23.5% versus 23.6%.
Employment patterns reveal a clear distinction between million-plus cities and urban India. Regular wage/ salary employment is markedly higher in million-plus cities(58.5%) against urban India (47.6%), while casual work is nearly half (6.3% vs. 12.0%).Female participation in regular employment is also stronger in million-plus cities (65.1%vs. 50.9%) compared with urban India. Further, in million-plus cities female surpassing their male counterparts in regular wage/salary jobs by a notable margin (65.1% vs.56.4%).
In million-plus cities highest 22.9 per cent of workers are engaged in trade, hotel, and restaurant, followed by manufacturing 21.6 per cent. About 13.6 per cent are working in transport, storage and communications, while 7.8 per cent workers are in construction. A total of 31.5 per cent workers are engaged in miscellaneous services.
In urban India 23.8 per cent are working in trade, hotel and restaurant, 20.2 per cent in manufacturing, 10 percent in construction, and 7.5 per cent in agriculture. About 10.6 per cent are working in transport, storage and communication, while 26.4 per cent are engaged in miscellaneous services.
In million-plus cities, largest share of workforce was engaged in proprietary and partnership enterprises, in the non-agricultural sector, accounting for 59.1%. Public and private limited companies emerged as the second-largest employer, engaging 24.3% of workers, followed by government/public sector enterprises at 8.4%. The remaining enterprise types collectively accounted for about 8.0% of non-agricultural employment. A notable gender difference was observed in employment within employers’ households, where the share of female workers (13.3%) was substantially higher than that of male workers (2.0%).
The share of workers engaged in public and private limited companies was significantly higher in million-plus cities than in urban India (17.2%). Conversely, the proportion of workers employed in proprietary and partnership enterprises was lower in million-plus cities than in urban India (65.9%).
In million-plus cities, male labour force participation was broadly comparable with urban India under the usual status (75.9% vs. 76.2%), with a similar pattern observed under the current weekly status (CWS). For females, LFPR was marginally lower in million-plus cities under the usual status (27.2% vs. 27.7%), while CWS reflected nearly identical participation.
The male population not in the labour force in million-plus cities was largely characterised by those pursuing education, with 53.5% reporting the desire to continue studies as their primary reason. Health and age-related reasons followed at 38.9%.Among female outside the labour force, child care responsibilities/ personal commitments in home-making accounted for 68.7%, making these the predominant reason for female non-participation.
In 2025, the PLFS underwent a significant redesign, with the survey cycle transitioning from the earlier July–June framework to a calendar year (January-December). Further, in the urban sector, each million-plus city is considered a separate stratum, enabling the generation of reliable labour force indicators for each million-plus city, the report says. In recognition of the analytical and policy significance of large urban centres, this dedicated report has been prepared using first-visit data collected under the PLFS during the January–December 2025 survey cycle, in addition to the regular PLFS publications. (IPA Service)
