India's labour force participation rate stays steady in March

New Delhi, April 15 India's overall labour force participation rate (LFPR) of people aged 15 years and above, which is an indicator of employment, remained steady at 55.4 per cent in March this year compared to 55.9 per cent in February, according to a statement issued by the Ministry of Statistics on Wednesday.

The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in the age group 15 years and above, which also reflects the level of employment, remained broadly stable in urban areas in March this year. The overall WPR was estimated at 52.6 per cent in March. WPR in urban areas was recorded at 46.8 per cent in March against 47.0 per cent in February, while in rural areas, WPR stood at 55.5 per cent during the month as compared to 56.3 per cent in the previous month, according to the ministry statement.

The figures released last month showed that February 2026 marked a strong recovery for the urban job market, with more women working and unemployment rates dropping sharply across both rural and urban sectors.

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO), MoSPI, is the primary source of data on activity participation and employment and unemployment conditions of the population. The PLFS survey methodology has been modified from January, 2025 to provide monthly and quarterly estimates of labour force indicators for the country.

Monthly results of PLFS are released in the form of Monthly Bulletins. It presents estimates of key labour market indicators, viz. Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and Unemployment Rate (UR) at the all-India level following the Current Weekly Status (CWS) approach.

The Monthly Bulletins for April 2025 to February 2026 have already been released. The present Monthly Bulletin for March is the twelfth in the series.

At the all-India level, the monthly estimates are based on information collected from a total of 3,74,879 persons surveyed. The number of persons surveyed in rural areas is 2,13,679, while those in urban areas are 1,61,200.

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