Updated
Updated · Madhyamam · May 11
India's Urban Unemployment Dips to 6.6% as Rural Regular Wage Employment Rises to 15.5%
Updated
Updated · Madhyamam · May 11

India's Urban Unemployment Dips to 6.6% as Rural Regular Wage Employment Rises to 15.5%

13 articles · Updated · Madhyamam · May 11
  • 6.6% urban unemployment in January-March 2026 marked a slight improvement from 6.7% in the previous quarter, the Statistics Ministry said.
  • 15.5% of rural workers were in regular wage or salaried jobs, up from 14.8%, alongside gains in rural secondary and tertiary employment.
  • 55.8% of rural workers still remained in agriculture, down from 58.5%, while the tertiary share rose to 21.7% from 20.6% and secondary jobs increased to 22.6% from 20.9%.
  • 57.4 crore people aged 15 and above were employed nationwide during the quarter, based on a survey covering 5,61,822 people; urban job distribution was largely stable and remained concentrated in services.
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