A total of 6,982 villages and 5,767 urban blocks were surveyed from January 2024 to December 2024 for PLFS 2024.

Key Indicators of Current Weekly Status (CWS)  (2024)

• Overall LFPR remained constant at 56.2%, despite minor variations across categories.Urban LFPR rose slightly for both men and women and Urban WPR also improved marginally.

• Urban female unemployment dropped notably from 8.9% to  8.2% , keeping overall urban unemployment stable at 6.7%.
• Overall national unemployment saw a minor decline from 5.0% to 4.9%.

Key Indicators for Usual Status (Principal Status + Subsidiary Status) 2024

• Slight decline in overall LFPR and WPR.
• The unemployment rate increased marginally at the national level from 3.1% to  3.2%.
• Rural female LFPR decreased slightly from 19.9% to  18.1% partly due to a drop in unpaid helpers in household enterprises.
• Urban employment situations showed some positive signs (higher participation, lower female unemployment).
• Rural employment faced minor setbacks, mainly among women.
• Overall employment levels remained relatively stable, with only minor variations compared to 2023.

Key Terminologies 

• Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): The percentage of working-age people who are either employed or actively seeking employment.
• Worker Population Ratio (WPR): The percentage of working-age people who are currently employed.
• Unemployment Rate (UR): The percentage of unemployed individuals among those who are part of the labour force.
• Usual Status (Principal Status + Subsidiary Status): The classification of an individual’s activity status based on their principal and subsidiary activities during the past 365 days preceding the date of survey.
  • Principal activity status (ps): The activity status on which a person spent relatively a long time (major time criterion) during 365 days.
  • Subsidiary economic activity status (ss): The activity status in which a person in addition to his/her usual principal status, performs some economic activity for 30 days or more for the reference period of 365 days.
• Current Weekly Status (CWS): The classification of an individual’s activity status based on their activities during the past 7 days.

About Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)

• The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) was launched by the National Statistics Office (NSO) in April 2017 to provide labour force data at more frequent time intervals.
• Objectives of PLFS
• • To estimate key employment and unemployment indicators such as Worker Population Ratio (WPR), Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), and Unemployment Rate (UR), in urban areas every three months using the Current Weekly Status (CWS) approach.
  • To estimate employment and unemployment indicators annually for both rural and urban areas based on Usual Status (Principal Status + Subsidiary Status) and Current Weekly Status (CWS).
• Annual Reporting of PLFS: Based on the PLFS, Annual Reports are prepared covering both rural and urban areas, providing estimates of important employment and unemployment parameters under both Usual Status (ps+ss) and Current Weekly Status (CWS).
  • Till now, seven Annual PLFS Reports have been released, with the latest report based on PLFS conducted from July 2023 to June 2024.
• Survey Period and Estimation Method: In each Annual Report of PLFS, the estimates of labour market indicators are based on data collected during the period from July of one year to June of the next year.
  • For instance, in the PLFS Annual Report 2023-24, the estimates are presented based on the data collected from July 2023 to June 2024.
• Sampling Methodology: The First Stage Units (FSUs) canvassed during July of one year to June of the next year are independently drawn for each quarter before starting the survey.
• Basis of Calendar Year Estimates: The calendar year estimates are prepared based on information collected during the first visit of the PLFS survey.

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