India’s unemployment rate for people aged 15 years and above rose to a four-quarter high of 5.4% in April-June 2026, with joblessness rising in both rural and urban areas, data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Monday showed. The rise in unemployment was broad-based, with the highest rate of joblessness seen among young females, especially in urban areas.
On average, 566 million persons aged 15 years and above were employed in the country during April-June, of which 402 million were male and 164 million were females.
The unemployment rate was up from 5.0% a quarter ago and the highest since April-June 2025, when it was 5.4%. The rural unemployment rate rose to 4.8% in April-June from 4.3% a quarter ago, while the urban unemployment rate inched up to 6.7% from 6.6% in January-March.
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The female unemployment rate rose to 5.7% from 5.3% a quarter ago, while for men it increased to 5.3% from 4.8% in January-March. Female youth unemployment jumped to a series-high of 19.6% in April-June from 17.7% a quarter earlier.
Youth unemployment—for those aged between 15 and 29 years—jumped to 15.9% in the first quarter of 2026-27, the highest in the current Periodic Labour Force Survey series, which has data from April-June 2025. Youth unemployment was 15% in January-March and 14.6% a year ago.
Joblessness among the youth primarily rose in rural areas—increasing to 14.7% in April-June from 13.5% a quarter ago. It inched up to 18.2% in urban areas.
“MoSPI’s latest PLFS indicates a resilient urban labour market despite a marginal moderation in the overall labour force participation rate, with urban unemployment remaining stable at 6.7%, male labour force participation improving to 75.3%, and the share of regular salaried employment increasing across both rural and urban areas,” State Bank of India said in a note.
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As unemployment rose in April-June, the labour force participation rate (LFPR)–the percentage of persons working or seeking or available for work—also declined, raising concerns.
The LFPR fell to 54.6% last quarter from 55.5% in January-March. The LFPR was higher in rural areas at 56.9%, compared with 50.2% in urban areas. The female labour force participation rate fell to an 1-year low of 32.7% in June.
The worker population ratio–the percentage of employed persons in the population–fell to 51.7% in April-June from 52.8% in the March quarter.
The proportion of regular wage and salaried employees increased to 16.1% during April-June in rural areas from 15.5% in the previous quarter.
In urban areas, it increased to 49.3% in April-June from 48.9% in January-March. The share of self-employed people in the overall workforce fell to 54.8% in the June quarter from 55.8% in the March quarter.
Over half of the rural workforce was employed in the agricultural sector in April-June, though the share was down from 55.8% a quarter ago and 53.5% a year ago.
Tertiary sector continued to be the largest employer in urban India, accounting for 62.0% of workers during April-June, up from 61.7% a year ago.
TOPICSunemploymentThis article was first uploaded on August ten, twenty twenty-six, at twenty-eight minutes past ten in the night. © The Indian Express (P) Ltd