Overview
- - Rural unemployment eased to 4.0% and urban to 6.7% in the October–December 2025 quarter, both down from the previous three months.
- - The labour force participation rate rose to 55.8%, with female participation climbing to 34.9%, driven largely by gains among rural women.
- - The share of regular wage or salaried employment slipped to 24.9% as self-employment expanded to 56.3%, indicating a shift toward less formal work.
- - Youth unemployment for ages 15–29 declined to 14.3%, remaining well above the headline rate despite the improvement.
- - State-level disparities persisted, with Uttarakhand posting the highest unemployment rate at 8.5%, followed by Kerala at 7.6% and Jammu & Kashmir at 7.4%.