Relevance : GS 3(Indian Economy)
Key Data from PLFS (April 2025, CWS Method)
- Unemployment Rate (UR):
- Overall (15+ years): 5.1%
- Male UR: 5.2%
- Female UR: 5.0%
- Rural UR (all ages): 4.5%
- Urban UR (all ages): 6.5%
- Urban Female UR (15–29 years): 23.7% (alarming youth unemployment)
- Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) (15+ years):
- Overall: 55.6%
- Rural Areas: 58.0%
- Urban Areas: 50.7%
- Worker Population Ratio (WPR) (15+ years):
- Rural Areas: 55.4%
- Urban Areas: 47.4%
- Overall: 52.8%
New Features of Revamped PLFS
- First Monthly Bulletin issued (previously quarterly/annual).
- Covers employment data for rural areas monthly — a methodological improvement.
- Expanded household sample size for more accurate representation.
- Aims to capture seasonality and short-term labour market trends.
Women’s Labour Participation
- Slight increase in women’s participation, especially in rural areas.
- Yet, youth urban female unemployment (23.7%) shows deep structural issues.
- Indicates lack of adequate skilled job opportunities and barriers to women’s sustained employment in urban settings.
Expert Commentary: Dr. Sridhar Kundu
- Praises monthly tracking initiative as a positive institutional reform.
- Criticisms of PLFS:
- Lacks data on labour market-oriented schemes like MGNREGA.
- Does not cover wage trends across sectors and sub-sectors.
- No concrete roadmap for addressing skilled vs. unskilled employment dynamics.
Policy Implications
- Need to bridge rural-urban employment gap (rural UR: 4.5%, urban UR: 6.5%).
- Address high female youth unemployment with targeted skilling and job creation.
- Revamp PLFS to include:
- Wage data
- MGNREGA impact assessment
- Sector-wise job quality metrics.
- Better data-driven labour policy formulation required.
