New Delhi, August 17 — India registered an increase in both the overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) and Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in July this year compared with the same month of the previous year, reflecting a year-on-year rise in employment, according to figures released by the National Statistics Office on Monday.

The overall LFPR for persons aged 15 years and above increased to 55.4 per cent in July 2026 from 54.4 per cent in June 2026. Female LFPR rose to 34.4 per cent in July 2026, registering an increase of 1.7 percentage points over the previous month.

The overall WPR for persons aged 15 years and above increased to 52.5 per cent in July 2026. Rural WPR stood at 55.4 per cent, registering an increase of 1.6 percentage points over June 2026 and 1.0 percentage point over July 2025.

The overall unemployment rate (UR) among persons aged 15 years and above dropped to 5.1 per cent in July this year from 5.5 per cent in June 2026. Compared with July 2025, the overall UR and rural UR remained broadly stable in July 2026, while the urban UR decreased by 0.5 percentage point from 7.2 per cent in July last year to 6.7 per cent in July 2026.

Both male and female unemployment rates declined in July 2026 compared with the previous month, indicating an improvement in employment conditions across genders.

At the all-India level, the monthly estimates are based on information collected from a total of 3,71,021 persons surveyed in both rural and urban areas. Of these, 2,11,411 persons were surveyed in rural areas and 1,59,610 in urban areas.

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

Monthly results of the PLFS are released in the form of monthly bulletins. These present estimates of key labour market indicators — 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.