India’s February unemployment rate eases to 4.9% y/y
The urban unemployment rate for those aged 15 and over fell to 6.6% last month, falling below the December 2025 level (6.7%). Rural unemployment remained unchanged at 4.2%, the same level as observed in January 2026.
The unemployment rate for women aged 15 and over decreased to 5.1% compared to 5.6% in January 2026; A decline was reported in both rural and urban areas.
While the urban female unemployment rate decreased from 9.8% in January to 8.7% in February, the rural female unemployment rate decreased from 4.3% to 4.0% in the same period.
General Labor Force Participation Rate (LFPR) remained unchanged in February as it was in January, remaining at 55.9%; The rural labor force participation rate was 58.7% and the urban labor force participation rate was 50.4%.
The overall labor force participation rate of women aged 15 years and above increased marginally from 35.1% in January 2026 to 35.3% in February 2026.
The female labor force participation rate in rural areas increased from 39.7% in January 2026 to 40.0% in February 2026; This indicates an improvement in rural women’s participation, while urban women’s labor force participation rate remained unchanged at 25.5% over the same period.
National-level monthly estimates are based on information collected by NSO from a total of 3,74,879 people surveyed; MoSPI is the primary source of data on population activity participation and employment and unemployment conditions.
From January 2025, the government changed the PLFS survey methodology to provide monthly and quarterly estimates of labor force indicators for the country.
