Government data show fall in number of women at work in rural, urban areas

The unemployment rate (UR) among people aged 15 and above has remained the same at 5.6% in May and June 2025, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation here on Tuesday (July 15, 2025).

Women’s participation in labour force, both in urban and rural areas, decreased by one percentage point in June compared with May. The government said there is a “marginal decline” in the labour force participation rate (LFPR) of men too. 

The Ministry said the LFPR in current weekly status (CWS) among all persons aged 15 and above was 54.2 % during June this year as compared to 54.8% during May 2025. “The LFPR in rural areas was 56.1% and LFPR in urban areas was 50.4% during June 2025 for persons of the same age group,” the Ministry said. The LFPR for males aged 15 and above in rural and urban areas were respectively 78.1% and 75% during June 2025, and it marked a marginal decline from the corresponding LFPR estimates of 78.3% and 75.1% respectively for rural and urban areas during May 2025.

For females, the LFPR for age 15 years and above for rural areas was 35.2% in June 2025. This was 36.9% in May and 38.2% in April. In urban areas, the LFPR for females aged above 15 was 25% in June. It was 25.3% in May. For females of all age groups in both rural and urban areas, the LFPR was 24.5% in June and it was 25.5% in May. 

Marginal decrease

The unemployment rate for females and males of all ages above 15 was 5.6%. While for men, the rate remained same as of May, for females there was a decrease in UR by 0.1 percentage point. While the rural unemployment rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points, the urban unemployment rate increased by 0.2 percentage points between May and June. 

The worker population ratio (WPR) for people of all ages above 15 in both urban and rural areas decreased by 0.3 percentage points to 38.7% compared to 39% in May. 

The Union Government said the marginal decline in LFPR and WPR in June was largely influenced by seasonal agricultural patterns, intense summer heat limiting outdoor physical work, and a shift of some unpaid helpers, particularly from higher-income rural households, towards domestic chores. It said the share of rural female workers in agriculture dropped from 70.2% in May to 69.8% in June, indicating the reduced need for agricultural engagement among women, “perhaps due to a decline in rural inflation”.

The Ministry had started releasing monthly figures of employment and unemployment data since April for a better perspective of the situation. “The number of households surveyed was 89,493 (49,335 in rural areas and 40,158 in urban areas) and number of persons surveyed was 3,80,538 (2,17,251 in rural areas and 1,63,287 in urban areas),” the Ministry said.