India Records Year-On-Year Rise In Employment In September As Unemployment Rate Falls To 5 Per Cent: NSO Data

India saw a year-on-year increase in employment in September, as per data from the National Statistics Office (NSO). The overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) rose by 0.2 percentage points, reaching 55.5% from 55.3% in September 2025. Rural LFPR saw a more significant increase of 0.6 percentage points, reaching 58.0% from 57.4%, while urban LFPR declined marginally by 0.2 percentage points, falling to 50.7% from 50.9%.

Female LFPR also showed an upward trend, with the overall rate increasing by 0.5 percentage points to 34.6% in September 2026. Urban female LFPR saw a notable month-on-month increase of 0.5 percentage points, reaching its highest level since October 2025 at 25.9%. Rural female LFPR rose by 1.0 percentage points, climbing from 37.9% to 38.9%.

The overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR) remained stable at 52.7% in September, with urban WPR hitting its highest level since October 2025 at 47.2%. Urban male WPR increased from 70.7% to 71.0%, while urban female WPR rose slightly from 23.2% to 23.5%. On a year-on-year basis, both overall and urban WPR improved by 0.3 percentage points.

The overall unemployment rate (UR) decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 5.0% in September 2026, compared to the same period in 2025. The rural unemployment rate fell by 0.4 percentage points, dropping from 4.6% to 4.2%, while the urban unemployment rate remained relatively stable at 6.8%.