Urban Unemployment Rate Dips To 6.6% In Q1FY25: PLFS

Registering an improvement from the last quarter of financial year 2024 (Q4FY24), the rate of unemployment in the urban areas declined to 6.6 per cent in Q1FY25. On the back of a fall in the unemployment rate among males aged 15 or above, the overall unemployment rate improved from the four-quarter high of 6.7 per cent in the January to March 2024 period, as per the quarterly bulletin of the period labour force survey.

The quarterly bulletin showed that the unemployment rate among males aged 15 years and above in the current weekly status (CWS) in urban areas declined from 6.1 per cent in Q4FY24 to 5.8 per cent in Q1FY25.

However, the same rate for females in the urban areas increased to 8.9 per cent in the recently concluded quarter from 8.4 per cent in Q4FY24. The Q4FY24 (January to March 2024) female unemployment rate was lowest in the last four quarters as compared to 9.2 per cent in Q1FY24.

Indicating an improvement in the job opportunities for the urban youth, the unemployment rate in CWS among the urban population aged 15 years to 29 years declined from 17 per cent in Q4FY24 to 16.8 per cent in the April to June 2024 period.

The urban unemployment among males aged between 15 years and 29 years improved from 15.1 per cent in the January to March 2024 period to 14.8 per cent in Q1FY25. However, the same rate among females of the same age groups increased to 23 per cent during the quarter from 22.7 per cent in Q4FY24.

The labour force participation ratio (LFPR) in CWS in urban areas declined from 39.5 per cent in Q4FY24 to 39.3 per cent in the April to June 2024 period. The LFPR among the population aged 15 years and above declined from 50.2 per cent in Q4FY24 to 50.1 per cent in Q1FY25.

The worker population ratio (WPR) in CWS in urban areas declined to 36.7 per cent in Q1FY25 from 36.9 per cent in Q4FY24. The WPR for the urban population aged 15 years or above declined marginally from 46.9 in Q4FY24 to 46.8 per cent in Q1FY25.

The data from the National Statistical Office (NSO) is based on the current weekly status (CWS) approach, where the activity status is determined on the basis of a reference period of the last seven days preceding the date of the survey. According to this approach, a person was considered unemployed in a week if he or she did not work even for one hour on any day during the week but sought or was available for work during the same period.