India Sees Rise in Employment in August
India recorded year-on-year increases in both the overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) and Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in August 2026, indicating an improvement in employment levels, according to figures released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Tuesday.
The overall LFPR rose by 0.6 percentage points to 55.6 per cent in August 2026 from 55 per cent in August 2025.
The overall LFPR also increased from 55.4 per cent in July 2026 to 55.6 per cent in August. Rural areas followed the same trend, with the LFPR for people aged 15 years and above rising to 58.2 per cent in August from 58.0 per cent in July.
In urban areas, the LFPR remained unchanged at 50.4 per cent during the month.
Rural LFPR stood at 58.2 per cent in August, up 1.2 percentage points from August 2025. Overall female LFPR rose to 34.8 per cent during the month, 1.1 percentage points higher than the level recorded in August last year.
The overall WPR for people aged 15 years and above climbed to 52.8 per cent in August, marking its highest level since March 2026. Rural WPR increased by 1.3 percentage points year-on-year to 55.8 per cent during the month.
Gender-wise data showed a moderate rise in overall female LFPR from 34.4 per cent in July 2026 to 34.8 per cent in August. Rural female LFPR mainly drove the increase, rising to 39.4 per cent from 38.8 per cent during the same period.
Meanwhile, female LFPR in urban areas remained broadly stable at 25.4 per cent in August, compared with 25.3 per cent in July 2026.
The overall unemployment rate (UR) for people aged 15 years and above remained unchanged at 5.0 per cent in August. Rural UR declined to 4.1 per cent during the month, marking its lowest level since January 2026.
The NSO conducts the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), the primary source of data on labour force participation, employment and unemployment conditions in India.
From January 2026, the NSO modified the PLFS methodology to provide monthly and quarterly estimates of key labour force indicators for the country.