Overview

• The Ministry of Labour and Employment issued a formal rebuttal to a Reuters poll of about 50 economists that suggested India’s true unemployment rate could be nearly double the official 5.6% for June 2025.
• Officials characterised the poll as lacking statistical foundation and prone to selection bias due to undisclosed participants and methodology.
• The government reaffirmed the PLFS’s monthly calendar-year estimates as scientifically rigorous, internationally benchmarked, and transparent.
• External critics, including economist Amit Mitra and data from the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy, continue to argue that the actual jobless rate exceeds 8%, highlighting a persistent credibility gap.
• Latest PLFS figures show a steady unemployment rate of 5.6% and record growth in own-account work, which policymakers credit with absorbing labour in the absence of formal jobs.