PERIODIC LABOUR FORCE SURVEY (PLFS)

Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)

  • Conducted by National Statistics Office
  • Started in 2017.
  • Released by Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI)
  • It used to report employment and unemployment related data for Urban areas on quarterly basis and for Rural areas on annual basis and then an Annual Report used to be released combining both rural and urban areas from July to June period.

Now this stands changed from April 2025.

New PLFS highlights:

Monthly & Annual Estimation of Employment Indicators

  • Employment and unemployment indicators such as:
    • Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR)
    • Worker Population Ratio (WPR)
    • Unemployment Rate (UR)
  • These will now be estimated monthly for both rural and urban areas at the all-India level using Current Weekly Status (CWS).
  • Quarterly estimates will be produced in both Usual Status and CWS for rural and urban areas annually.

Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): LFPR is defined as the percentage of persons in labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population.

Worker Population Ratio (WPR): WPR is defined as the percentage of employed persons in the population.

Unemployment Rate (UR): UR is defined as the percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in the labour force.

Current Weekly Status (CWS): The activity status determined on the basis of a reference period of last 7 days preceding the date of survey is known as the current weekly status (CWS) of the person.

Additional Data Collection in New PLFS

The revamped PLFS will now include extra household-level data on:

(a) Educational attainment

(b) Land possessed and land leased out

(c) Usual monthly income from:

  • Rent
  • Pension
  • Interest
  • Remittances

Reporting Timeline

  • Annual Report Cycle: Will follow the calendar year (January to December).
    • The first annual report will cover Jan–Dec 2025.
  • Monthly Reports:
    • The first monthly report is for April 2025, released in May 2025.

Survey Frequency and Method

  • First monthly PLFS by Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (MoSPI).
  • Based on Current Weekly Status (CWS) – activity status over the last 7 days before the survey.

Unemployment Rate (UR)

  • Overall (All ages):1%
    • Men:2%
    • Women:0%
  • Age group 15–29 years (All India):8%
    • Men (15–29):6%
      • Urban: 15%
      • Rural: 13%
    • Women (15–29):4%
      • Urban: 23.7%
      • Rural: 10.7%
  • By Area:
    • Urban:2%
    • Rural:3%

Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR)

  • Overall (15+ years):6%
    • Rural Areas:0%
    • Urban Areas:7%
  • By Gender:
    • Males:
      • Rural: 79.0%
      • Urban: 75.3%
    • Females (Rural, 15+ years):2%

Worker Population Ratio (WPR)

WPR Definition: Proportion of employed persons among the total population.

  • Overall (15+ years):8%
    • Rural:4%
    • Urban:4%

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