Overview
- The National Statistical Office reported on Monday that unemployment climbed to 5.5% in May from 5.2% in April, a 30 basis point rise in the Periodic Labour Force Survey monthly estimate.
- The increase was driven by rural weakness, with rural unemployment rising to 5.1% from 4.6% while urban unemployment edged down to 6.4% from 6.6%.
- Labour force participation fell to 54.4% from 55.0% and the Worker Population Ratio, which measures the share of people employed, slipped to 51.4% from 52.2%, both pointing to softer labour-market engagement.
- Young workers were hit harder as unemployment for ages 15–29 rose to 15.9% from 15.3%, and women continued to face higher joblessness than men in most measures.
- The monthly estimates come from a large sample of roughly 88,953 households and 373,887 individuals and showed mixed year‑on‑year signals with urban unemployment down versus May 2025 while the overall rate remained broadly stable.