Unemployment rate falls to 4.7% in November, lowest since April: Government survey

The unemployment rate (UR) among people aged 15 years and above declined to 4.7% in November, the lowest level since April, when it stood at 5.1%, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) report for November released on Monday (Decemb er 15, 2025).

The PLFS, conducted by the National Statistical Office (NSO) of the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI), stated that the overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) increased to 55.8% in November, the highest level recorded since April.

According to a MoSPI statement based on the PLFS report, the rise in LFPR was primarily driven by rural areas, where it increased to 58.6% in November from 58.0% in April. On a month-on-month basis, the rural LFPR rose from 57.8% in October, while the urban LFPR decreased marginally from 50.5% to 50.4%.

Overall, female LFPR showed a steady rise from June 2025 to November 2025, the MoSPI said. “It increased from 32.0% to 35.1% during this period, driven mainly by higher labour force participation in rural areas, while urban female LFPR remained relatively stable. Rural female LFPR recorded a consistent upward movement, rising from 35.2% in June 2025 to 39.7% in November 2025,” it added.

The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for persons aged 15 years and above in rural areas increased from 55.4% in April 2025 to 56.3% in November 2025, while the overall WPR rose from 52.8% to 53.2%. “Urban WPR remained largely stable. Notably, rural female WPR improved from 36.8% in April 2025 to 38.4% in November 2025, driving the rise in overall female WPR from 32.5% to 33.4% over this period,” the Centre said.

“In November 2025, the rural UR fell to a new low of 3.9%, while the urban UR decreased to 6.5%, matching its previous lowest level recorded in April 2025,” the release said, adding that UR for both males and females aged 15 years and above showed a notable decline in November 2025. “Among females, the UR fell to 4.8% in November 2025, down from 5.4% in October 2025. This decline was driven by reductions in both rural and urban female URs, which decreased from 4.0% to 3.4% and 9.7% to 9.3%, respectively,” the Ministry noted. The overall male UR decreased to 4.6%, compared with 5.1% in October. “Disaggregated by sectors, rural and urban male URs stood at 4.1% and 5.6% in November 2025, compared with 4.6% and 6.1% observed in the preceding month,” the survey found.

The NSO surveyed 3,73,229 people for the PLFS—2,13,337 from rural and 1,59,892 from urban areas.