India's unemployment rate eases to 5.1% in July–September, government survey shows
Joblessness for people aged 15 and over fell from 5.4% in the April–June quarter, helped by a drop in rural unemployment.
- Rural rate: 4.3%
- Urban rate: 6.8%
- Urban women: 8.8%
The numbers
The National Statistics Office's quarterly labour survey, released on Tuesday, puts the unemployment rate at 5.1% for July–September 2026. That is down from 5.4% in the previous quarter and 5.2% a year earlier. The survey covered more than 5.5 lakh people.
Villages vs cities
Most of the improvement came from rural India, where the rate fell to 4.3% from 4.8%. Cities did not improve: urban unemployment was 6.8%, a touch higher than the 6.7% recorded in April–June.
Women in cities
Among urban women, unemployment eased to 8.8% from 9% a year ago. That is still clearly higher than the 6.1% rate for urban men. This is the sixth quarterly bulletin since the survey changed its method in January 2025, so comparisons with older data should be made with care.
