India’s overall rural unemployment rates in 2025 declined 2.4 per cent, indicating a strong rural labour absorption, as per the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation.
The female unemployment rate remained low at 2.1 per cent lower than the male unemployment rate in rural areas which stood at 2.6 per cent, the statement said.
The male and female unemployment eased to 4.2 per cent and 6.4 per cent respectively in urban areas, contributing to a marginal decrease in overall urban unemployment rate to 4.8 per cent.
The survey shows a broad stability in 2025 compared to 2024. In 2025, worker population ratio (WPR) for rural males remained robust at 78.4 per cent, while WPR for rural females held steady at 44.9 per cent, sustaining the significant gains made since 2022. The overall urban WPR maintained nearly at 50 per cent.
Earnings of workers have shown a notable improvement in recent years across categories, with gains observed for both males and females in nominal terms. In regular wage/salaried employment, average earnings for males increased from Rs 22,891 in 2024 to Rs 24,217 in 2025 (about 5.8 per cent growth), while for females, earnings rose from Rs 17,126 to Rs 18,353 (about 7.2 per cent growth).
However, for the self-employed, male earnings increased from Rs 16,893 in 2024 to Rs 17,914 in 2025 (around 6 per cent growth), while female earnings rose from Rs 5,861 to Rs 6,374 (around 8.8 per cent growth), reflecting stronger growth among females.
With regard to casual labour (other than public work), male earnings remained stable (Rs 456 in 2024 and Rs 455 in 2025), while female earnings improved from Rs 299 to Rs 315 (about 5.4 per cent growth).
The survey highlights that the rural male labour force participation remained strong at 80.5 per cent while rural female participation held steady at 45.9 per cent, sustaining the gains achieved in previous years.
Both male and female labour force participation rates in 2025 remained broadly consistent with the levels observed in 2024 in urban areas.
