India’s employment base expanded sharply to 64.33 crore in 2023-24 from 47.5 crore in 2017-18, a net addition of 16.83 crore jobs over six years, according to fresh data from the Ministry of Labour and Employment.
The government said the rise in job creation reflects not just economic expansion but also a shift in the nature and quality of work, a critical marker of real development that GDP growth alone cannot capture. Employment, economists note, plays a dual role — boosting household consumption and social stability while supporting long-term economic resilience.
The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), conducted by the National Statistical Office, shows a steady improvement in both Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) and Worker Population Ratio (WPR) — key measures of employment health.
At the all-India level, LFPR rose to 55 per cent in August 2025 from 54.2 per cent in June, while WPR improved to 52.2 per cent from 51.2 per cent in the same period, based on data collected from 3.77 lakh individuals.
On a broader timeline, the LFPR for individuals aged 15 years and above climbed from 49.8 per cent in 2017-18 to 60.1 per cent in 2023-24, while WPR increased from 46.8 per cent to 58.2 per cent, indicating stronger workforce engagement and improved employment absorption across both rural and urban India.
In the April-June 2025 quarter, the agriculture sector remained the mainstay for rural employment, engaging 44.6 per cent of men and 70.9 per cent of women, while the tertiary sector led urban employment with 60.6 per cent of men and 64.9 per cent of women.
An estimated 56.4 crore people (aged 15 and above) were employed during the quarter — including 39.7 crore men and 16.7 crore women.
The trend toward formalisation continued to strengthen. The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) added 1.29 crore net subscribers in FY25, double the 61.12 lakh additions seen in FY19. Since the payroll-tracking system’s inception in September 2017, over 7.73 crore net subscribers have been added, including 21.04 lakh in July 2025 alone.
Of these, 9.79 lakh were new entrants with 60 per cent in the 18-25 age group, suggesting a growing base of young, first-time formal sector workers. The government attributed this momentum to expanding job opportunities, greater awareness of social security benefits, and sustained EPFO outreach.
Employment patterns have also evolved significantly. Self-employment rose from 52.2 per cent in 2017-18 to 58.4 per cent in 2023-24, while casual labour declined from 24.9 per cent to 19.8 per cent, signalling a tilt toward entrepreneurship and independent work, supported by government initiatives for micro-enterprises and startups.
Income levels have also improved. The average daily wage for casual labourers (excluding public works) increased from Rs 294 in 2017 to Rs 433 in 2024, while monthly earnings for regular salaried workers rose from Rs 16,538 to Rs 21,103 during the same period, reflecting improved job quality and stability.
India’s unemployment rate (UR) has seen a significant decline, falling from 6.0 per cent in 2017-18 to 3.2 per cent in 2023-24. Youth unemployment, often a concern for emerging economies, also dropped sharply from 17.8 per cent to 10.2 per cent, placing India below the global average of 13.3 per cent, as per the ILO’s World Employment and Social Outlook 2024.
In August 2025, unemployment among men aged 15 years and above eased to 5 per cent, the lowest since April, driven by a fall in urban male unemployment to 5.9 per cent and rural male unemployment to 4.5 per cent. The rural unemployment rate has now declined for three consecutive months, from 5.1 per cent in May to 4.3 per cent in August 2025, reflecting resilient rural job dynamics.
A standout trend has been the sharp rise in female labour participation, a key component of the government’s Viksit Bharat goal of achieving 70 per cent women workforce participation by 2047, the government mentioned.
The female LFPR nearly doubled from 23.3 per cent in 2017-18 to 41.7 per cent in 2023-24, while the female WPR surged from 22 per cent to 40.3 per cent during the same period. The upward momentum continued in 2025, with female WPR rising from 30.2 per cent in June to 32 per cent in August, and female LFPR improving from 32 per cent to 33.7 per cent.
The trend is mirrored in formal sector data. About 26.9 lakh net female subscribers were added to the EPFO in FY25, including 2.8 lakh new and 4.42 lakh net additions in July 2025 alone.