Unemployment rate in Q2 dips marginally, rises in urban areas

INDIA'S OVERALL UNEMPLOYMENT rate among the persons aged 15 years and above declined marginally in the second quarter of 2025-26 even though there was a slight uptick in joblessness in the urban areas and among the people in the 15-to-29-yearage group, according to the quarterly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Monday.

- KULDEEP SINGH

The unemployment rate as per Current Weekly Status (CWS) approach edged down to 5.2% in Q2 from 5.4% in April-June quarter, driven by the rural areas, where the jobless rate fell to 4.4% from 4.8% with improvements for both men and women.

In urban areas, however, unemployment rose slightly, from 6.1% to 6.2% for male and from 8.9% to 9.0% for females.

The unemployment rate for people inthe 15-to-29-yearage group showeda marginal uptick from 14.6% to 14.8%, which reflects that the job opportunities for newentrants in the market are hardly adequate.