A.        Introduction

The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted by NSO, MoSPI, is the primary source of data on activity participation and employment and unemployment conditions of the population. The PLFS survey methodology has been modified from January, 2025 to provide monthly and quarterly estimates of labour force indicators for the country.

Monthly results of PLFS are released in the form of Monthly Bulletins. It presents estimates of key labour market indicators viz. Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio (WPR) and Unemployment Rate (UR) at the all-India level following the Current Weekly Status (CWS) approach.

The Monthly Bulletins for April, 2025 to December, 2025 have already been released. The present Monthly Bulletin for January, 2026 is the tenth in the series.

 

Key findings for persons of age 15 years and above following CWS:

• Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) shows steady trend:

The overall LFPR among persons of age 15 years and above reported as 55.9% in January, 2026. Rural LFPR was 58.7% in January, 2026 compared to 59.0% in December, 2025. Urban LFPR observed as 50.3% in January, 2026, against 50.2% in December, 2025.

Overall LFPR reported as 55.9% in January, 2026

 

• Female labour force participation maintains its level:

Female Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) in January, 2026 reported as 35.1%. Rural female LFPR was found as 39.7% in January, 2026, while urban female LFPR reached to 25.5% during the month.

 

Female LFPR maintains its level, with marginal variations across rural and urban areas.

• Urban WPR largely unchanged:

The overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR) in the age group 15 years and above exhibited a broad stability in January, 2026. Following a gradual increase in rural WPR since June, 2025 (53.3%) to December, 2025 (56.7%), it declined marginally to 56.2% in January, 2026. In rural areas, the male and female WPR stood at 75.7% and 38.0%, respectively, in January, 2026, compared to 76.0% and 38.6% in December, 2025. Urban WPR, on the other hand, remained stable across genders and was recorded as 70.5% for male, 23.0% for female and 46.8% at the person level in January, 2026. 

The overall workforce showed a stable pattern during the period April, 2025 to January, 2026

 

• Unemployment Rate (UR) show a modest increase:

The UR among persons of age 15 years and above rose slightly to 5.0% in January, 2026 from 4.8% in December, 2025. The rural UR edged up from 3.9% to 4.2%, while urban UR increased from 6.7% to 7.0% during December, 2025 to January, 2026.

 

Unemployment rate recorded a marginal increase in January, 2026 compared to December, 2025 in both rural and urban areas.

• Male UR shows stability:

Among male aged 15 years and above, the UR continued to remain stable in January, 2026. In contrast, the female UR in the same age group was comparatively higher in January, 2026 than in December, 2025. However, the female UR remains within the range observed during the period April to December, 2025, indicating a short-term increase rather than a significant weakening of female labour market conditions.

The decline in LFPR and WPR and rise in UR in January 2026 is primarily rural-driven, with seasonal factors, post-harvest slack, and discouragement effects playing a key role. Many activities like construction, agriculture allied work, transport, small trade, etc. slowdown in winter. Urban areas remained stable.

At the all-India level, the monthly estimates are based on information collected from a total number of 3,73,158 persons surveyed.
persons surveyed in rural areas 2,13,226	persons surveyed in urban areas 1,60,932

 

The Monthly Bulletin for the month January, 2026 is available on the website of the Ministry (https://www.mospi.gov.in).

Scan QR code to access MoSPI Publications/ Reports

 

***

Samrat

(Release ID: 2228713) Visitor Counter : 375