India’s April Unemployment Rate at 5.2%, Urban Rate Falls to 6.6%

India’s Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for people aged 15 years and above stood at 55.0% in April 2026. It was 55.4% in March 2026 and 55.6% in April 2025.

Rural LFPR was recorded at 57.5%, while urban LFPR came in at 50.1% in April 2026. Overall participation remained lower compared to last year.

Female LFPR eased to 33.9% in April 2026 from 34.4% in March 2026. It was 34.2% in April 2025.

Rural female LFPR stood at 38.2%, while urban female LFPR was recorded at 25.0%. Urban female participation declined 0.7 percentage points compared to last year.

Overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR) stood at 52.2% in April 2026, compared to 52.6% in March 2026 and 52.8% a year ago.

Urban WPR remained unchanged at 46.8% in April 2026 compared to March 2026. Rural WPR stood at 54.9%, lower than 55.5% recorded in March.

Overall unemployment rate (UR) stayed broadly stable at 5.2% in April 2026. It was 5.1% in both March 2026 and April 2025.

Urban unemployment eased slightly to 6.6% in April 2026 from 6.8% in March. Rural unemployment rose to 4.6% from 4.3% during the same period.

Male unemployment rate stood at 5.1% in April 2026 against 5.0% in March. Urban male unemployment declined to 5.9% from 6.1%, while rural male unemployment increased to 4.7% from 4.4%.

Female unemployment rate rose to 5.4% in April 2026 from 5.3% in March and 5.0% a year ago. Urban female unemployment declined to 8.5%, the lowest level recorded since April 2025.