Unemployment rate remains unchanged in 2023-24 at 3.2%: PLFS

India’s unemployment rate in 2023-24 (July 2023 – June 2024) remained unchanged at 3.2% as in 2022-23, the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released Monday showed even as in rural areas, it rose to 2.5% from 2.4% in the same period but declined in urban areas to 5.1% from 5.4%.

The overall joblessness rate in females was 3.2% as against 2.9% in 2022-23. The overall unemployment rate in males, in both rural and urban areas, was a tad lower at 3.2% in 2023-24 from 3.3% a year ago.

Unemployment rate is defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force.


The unemployment rate is for persons of age 15 years and above in the PLFS Annual Report (July, 2023 – June, 2024) released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation.

As per the data, female labour force participation rose to a seven-year high of 41.7% as against 37% in the previous year.

However, it remained below male labour force participation of 78.8%, another seven-year high.

The number of households surveyed was 1.01 lakh and number of persons surveyed was 4.18 lakh, according to the PLFS report. Among the persons surveyed, total number of persons of age 15 years and above was 3.19 lakh.

The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for persons of age 15 years and above rose to 60.1% during July 2023-June 2024 from 57.9% during July 2022-June 2023.

LFPR is defined as the percentage of persons in labour force or those who are working or seeking or available for work in the population.