India’s unemployment rate stood at 5.1 per cent in April, with urban areas recording a higher joblessness rate of 6.5 per cent and nearly 14 out of every 100 youth unable to find work, according to the maiden monthly labour force survey released by the National Statistical Office (NSO) on Thursday.

       April’s headline unemployment rate was slightly higher than the 4.9 per cent recorded in 2024, as per the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS). However, the NSO emphasised that the figures are not comparable, as the PLFS sampling methodology has been revamped to estimate key employment indicators on a monthly basis.

       “Users of PLFS results need to consider the changes implemented in PLFS from January 2025 while comparing PLFS results with estimates released through PLFS publications up to December 2024,” the NSO said in a statement. A key change in the methodology is the use of a rotational panel sampling design, which involves visiting each selected household four times over four consecutive months.

       The survey pegged the labour force participation rate (LFPR)—the share of people either working or actively seeking work—at 42 per cent in April. The LFPR was much lower for females at 26.2 per cent, compared to 57.8 per cent for males. Overall LFPR stood at 41.2 per cent in rural areas and 39.9 per cent in urban areas.

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       Among those aged 15 years and above looking for work in rural areas, the unemployment rate was 4.5 per cent in current weekly status (CWS) terms. The national unemployment rate among females was 5 per cent in April, while it was 5.2 per cent for males.

       Under the CWS method, a person’s activity status is determined based on the reference period of the past seven days preceding the date of the survey. A person is considered unemployed during the week if they did not work for even one hour on any day but were either seeking or available for work for at least one hour on any day of that week.

       The jobless rate for youth aged 15 to 29 years was recorded at 13.8 per cent. This was 14.4 per cent for females and 13.6 per cent for males. As individuals in this age group are usually first-time entrants to the job market, this metric is a critical indicator of the robustness of the country’s employment scenario.

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