Overview
- The monthly PLFS current weekly status release on July 15, 2026, shows the national unemployment rate unchanged at 5.5% from May.
- Female unemployment rose to 5.9% while male unemployment eased to 5.3%, and female employment measures weakened with the female worker population ratio at 30.8% and female labour force participation at 32.7%.
- Urban unemployment edged up to 6.6% as more people entered city labour markets, while rural unemployment modestly fell to 5.0%, highlighting divergent urban and rural trends.
- Youth joblessness climbed to 16.2%, driven by a sharp jump for young women to 20.7% while young men’s jobless rate fell to 14.6%, signaling acute stress for younger female workers.
- The June estimates come from a large PLFS sample of 372,852 individuals across 88,975 households and use the CWS measure, with LFPR and WPR explained as the share of people working or seeking work and the share employed respectively.