Mumbai
India’s unemployment rate among people aged 15 years and above declined to 5.1 percent in July 2026, registering a fall on both an annual and monthly basis, according to data released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation on Monday.
The ministry said that the unemployment rate among both men and women declined in July 2026 compared with the previous month, indicating an improvement in employment conditions for both groups.
In rural areas, the unemployment rate fell sharply to 4.5 percent in July 2026 from 5 percent in the previous month. Meanwhile, the urban unemployment rate remained broadly stable, rising slightly to 6.7 percent from 6.6 percent.
Compared with July 2025, the overall and rural unemployment rates remained broadly unchanged in July 2026. However, the urban unemployment rate declined by 0.5 percentage points, from 7.2 percent in July 2025 to 6.7 percent in July 2026.
The overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for people aged 15 years and above increased to 55.4 percent in July 2026, compared with 54.4 percent in June.
In rural areas, the LFPR for people aged 15 years and above rose by 1.4 percentage points from the previous month to 58 percent in July. In urban areas, the LFPR increased marginally from 50.1 percent in June to 50.4 percent in July.
Among women aged 15 years and above, the LFPR rose significantly to 34.4 percent in July 2026, up from 32.7 percent in June, marking an increase of 1.7 percentage points.
According to the data, the overall Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for people aged 15 years and above increased to 52.5 percent in July 2026. This was the first increase in the WPR since February 2026. In June 2026, the WPR stood at 51.4 percent.
In rural areas, the WPR among people aged 15 years and above stood at 55.4 percent in July, marking an increase of 1.6 percentage points compared with June 2026 and one percentage point compared with July 2025.
A notable improvement was recorded among rural women, whose WPR rose by 2.5 percentage points from 34.7 percent in June 2026 to 37.2 percent in July. During the same period, the WPR among urban women increased from 22.7 percent to 23.1 percent.
Meanwhile, the WPR in urban areas rose marginally from 46.8 percent to 47.0 percent.
