India's Female Unemployment Hits 5.9% in June, Highest in a Year

India's female unemployment rate hit a one-year high of 5.9% in June. The urban female jobless rate was 8.4%, significantly higher than 6% for men and 6.6% overall, highlighting a widening gap in joblessness despite the overall unemployment rate holding steady at 5.5%. India’s female unemployment rate climbed to 5.9 percent in June, its highest level in a year, according to the monthly Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MOSPI). The rise comes even as the overall unemployment rate held steady at 5.5 percent, unchanged from May and marginally better than 5.6 percent a year earlier, highlighting a widening gap between male and female joblessness despite broader labour market stability. The overall female unemployment rate in June was up from 5.6 percent in May, and higher than the 5.6 percent recorded a year earlier. This compares starkly with the male unemployment rate of 5.3 percent, underscoring that women continue to face disproportionately higher joblessness. The disparity is most pronounced in urban areas, where the female unemployment rate stood at 8.4 percent in June, more than the urban male rate of 6 percent and significantly above the overall urban unemployment rate of 6.6 percent. However, urban female unemployment has eased from 9.1 percent a year ago. Rural female unemployment was comparatively at a lower 5 percent, though still above the rural male rate of 4.9 percent. The overall female labour force participation rate (LFPR) was 32.7 percent in June, up 0.7 percentage points from 32 percent a year earlier, driven largely by rural women, whose participation climbed to 36.6 percent from 35.2 percent in the same period. Urban female LFPR, however, slipped to 24.8 percent from 25.2 percent in June 2025. On the broader employment front, overall LFPR remained unchanged at 54.4 percent respectively in June. While rural LFPR also remained unchanged at 56.6 percent, urban LFPR increased marginally from 49.8 percent in May to 50.1 percent in June. Meanwhile, the overall worker population ratio (WPR) remained flat at 51.4 percent, while male WPR improved to 72.9 percent from 72.5 percent in May, reflecting steadier job absorption for men.