Beyond the national average: What India’s first district-level PLFS data shows

India’s labour market is coming into sharper local focus, with new district-level estimates showing differences in employment and workforce participation that broader averages can obscure. The National Statistics Office (NSO) has released district-level labour market estimates for the first time under the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), following a January 2025 redesign that made districts the basic survey stratum across most of the country.

The estimates cover labour force participation rate (LFPR), worker population ratio (WPR), unemployment rate (UR) and the share of youth not in employment, education or training (NEET). The findings show wide district-level variations: around 57.8% of districts recorded female labour force participation of at least 40%, while more than 75% had youth NEET rates below 30%.

August unemployment rate at 6-month low of 5% Surat leads among 100 most populous districts For the population aged 15 and above overall, around 52.

7% of districts had an LFPR between 60 and 80%, while 44% had a WPR in the same range. Only 0.2% had an LFPR below 40%, and 1% had a WPR below 40%. Among the 100 most populous districts, Surat in Gujarat recorded the highest LFPR at 68.6%, followed by Araria in Bihar (68%) and Salem in Tamil Nadu (67.