Now Reading: Youth unemployment falls to 9.9%, but overall rate rises to 5.4%
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Youth unemployment falls to 9.9%, but overall rate rises to 5.4%
Youth unemployment in India (ages 15, 29) fell to 9.9% in 2025 from 10.9% in 2022, the government told the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Worker Population Ratio for that group rose…
The Story in Brief
Youth unemployment in India (ages 15, 29) fell to 9.9% in 2025 from 10.9% in 2022, the government told the Lok Sabha on Monday. The Worker Population Ratio for that group rose to 41.4% from 38.5%, Labour Minister Mansukh Mandaviya said, citing the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
But a separate PLFS report for April, June 2026, released the same day by the Ministry of Statistics, showed overall unemployment (ages 15 and above) rose to 5.4% from 5.0% in the previous quarter. Rural unemployment was 4.8% and urban 6.7%. The Labour Force Participation Rate also declined to 54.6% from 55.5%.
The Indian Opinion
The government is quick to trumpet a drop in youth joblessness over three years, yet the latest quarterly data tells a more worrying story: overall unemployment rose and fewer people are even looking for work. The glossy narrative of 'mission mode' hiring and lakhs of new jobs sits uneasily alongside an LFPR that is shrinking. A simple test: will the youth numbers keep falling if the overall trend continues to deteriorate?
Sources (2): thehindubusinessline.com, thehindu.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above.
Updated: this story now draws on 2 sources.
