Overview

• The monthly unemployment rate dropped from 5.6% in June to 5.2% in July, with rural joblessness falling to 4.4% even as urban unemployment edged up to 7.2%.
• Labour force participation rose to 54.9% in July and the worker population ratio held near 52%, while female WPR lagged at 31.6%.
• MoSPI’s first quarterly PLFS bulletin under the redesigned methodology reports a 5.4% unemployment rate for April–June and introduces state‐level high‐frequency estimates.
• State‐level data reveal stark youth unemployment gaps in April–June, peaking at nearly 30% in Himachal Pradesh and dipping below 6% in Gujarat.
• The ministry cautions that festival‐season hiring and the rotational panel design can create volatile month‐to‐month swings, which policy makers will weigh alongside planned GST cuts and India’s recent S&P credit upgrade.