India’s Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) is showing steady rise. The overall LFPR among persons of age 15 years and above continued to increase for the four successive months to 55.4% in October, 2025 from 54.2% in June, 2025. The LFPR in rural areas has also increased steadily from 56.1% observed in June, 2025 to 57.8% in October, 2025. Overall LFPR reached a six-month high of 55.4% in October, 2025. The LFPR among female aged 15 years and above reached 34.2% in October, 2025 marking the highest since May, 2025 driven by the increase in female LFPR in rural areas. Overall female LFPR showed an increasing trend from 32.0% in June, 2025 to 34.2% in October, 2025.
The overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in October, 2025 was 52.5%, which is consistently rising since June, 2025. Rise in the female workforce in rural areas has brought about this increase. Overall WPR among female of age 15 years and above increased steadily for the fourth month in a row, rising from 30.2% in June, 2025 to 32.4% in October, 2025.
Data showed that overall Unemployment Rate (UR) remains unchanged: The UR among persons of age 15 years and above remained unchanged at 5.2% between September, 2025 and October, 2025. A marginal decline in the rural Unemployment Rate (UR), from 4.6% in September, 2025 to 4.4% in October, 2025, coupled with a moderate rise in urban UR from 6.8% to 7.0%, resulted in overall stability in the unemployment rate among persons aged 15 years and above.
UR among female of age 15 years and above declined to 5.4% in October, 2025 from 5.5% observed during September, 2025. The drop in UR among rural female, from 4.3% in September, 2025 to 4.0% in October, 2025, mainly contributed towards decline in overall female UR.
Male UR has remained stable at 5.1% in October, 2025 as compared to previous month. A minor decrease in rural male UR, from 4.7% in September, 2025 to 4.6% in October, 2025, was offset by a slight rise in urban male UR from 6.0% to 6.1% during the same period, which contributed to overall stability.