PLFS Bulletin August 2026: LFPR Rises to 55.6 Per Cent

The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation issued the Periodic Labour Force Survey monthly bulletin for August 2026 on 15 September 2026. The survey is carried out by the National Statistical Office. It is the main source of data on how many people work and how many are looking for work. This bulletin is the seventeenth in the monthly series.

The three indicators

The bulletin reports three rates for persons aged 15 years and above. The Labour Force Participation Rate counts those working or seeking work. The Worker Population Ratio counts those actually working. The Unemployment Rate counts the share of the labour force without work. All are measured by the Current Weekly Status approach at the all-India level.

What the August numbers show

Participation rose again. Workforce participation strengthened in villages and held steady in towns. Rural joblessness fell. Female participation went up for a second month in a row. The headline figures are set out below.

The records in the month

Two of these readings are marked as turning points. The overall Worker Population Ratio of 52.8% is the highest since March 2026. The rural Unemployment Rate of 4.1% is the lowest since January 2026. The urban Unemployment Rate stood at 6.8%, a shade above the earlier month.

The size of the survey

The monthly estimates rest on a large sample. In all, 3,70,160 persons were surveyed across the country. Of these, 2,11,353 were in rural areas and 1,58,807 in urban areas. Remember that the survey method was changed from January 2025 so that monthly and quarterly estimates could be produced, and that the bulletin is placed on the ministry's website.