- Unemployment among young women (15-29 years) increased for the third consecutive month in four months, as per the latest government survey in August 2025
- All-India unemployment rate reached a record five-month low of 5.1%
- This rate is over 10 percentage points above the level of young urban males
In August 2025, unemployment among young girls and women (15-29 years) rose for the third time in four months, as per the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) figures released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
This happened when all-India unemployment rate fell to a combined five-month low of 5.1 percent.
The statistics indicated that the urban female unemployment rate between the ages of 15-29 increased to 25.7 percent in August, more than 10 percentage points above that for urban young men at 15.6 percent, a decline from 17.1 percent previously. As such, the total urban youth unemployment rate declined from 19 percent to 18 percent.
A similar trend occurred in rural India when unemployment for female youth increased to 14.3 while male youth unemployment decreased to 12.6 percent.
The reference figure for both sexes was 13 percent in July meaning rural youth unemployment rate stayed at 13 percent for August.
The increase in women youth unemployment occurred together with a small rise in their Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) from 21.1 percent to 21.4 percent, and the constant Worker Population Ratio (WPR) at 17.6 percent.
For male youths, the LFPR fell slightly to 60.7 percent from 60.9 percent, led by a 0.7 percentage point fall among rural youths, while their WPR too fell marginally.
The Ministry referred to the labour market as recording "positive momentum," pointing to the overall reduction in the unemployment rate, male unemployment falling, and the female LFPR rising to 33.7 percent.
But compared to April 2025, the figures were less positive. In August, the women's LFPR was lower at 33.7 percent compared with 34.2 percent in April, and both the women's and total WPR were lower than in April.
The ministry noted that monthly changes could be due to seasonal, educational, and survey-related influences, and not necessarily long-run trends, particularly after the change in the PLFS survey method introduced in January.
The April-June quarter PLFS report reported the highest rate of unemployment among young people in Himachal Pradesh at 29.6 percent, more than double the national average of 14.6 percent, whereas the lowest was registered in Gujarat at 5.6 percent.
The second quarterly report for the period July-September will be released on November 17.
