Parliament Question: National Unemployment Rate

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 2512 TO BE ANSWERED ON 03RD AUGUST, 2026 NATIONAL UNEMPLOYMENT RATE 2512. DR. SHIVAJI BANDAPPA KALGE: Will the Minister of LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT be pleased to state: (a) whether the Government has compiled data on youth unemployment rate during the last five years in various states of the country; (b) if so, the details of latest youth Unemployment rate (age group18-25) and the method of its comparison with the overall National Unemployment Rate; (c) whether it is a fact that according to the recent labour force surveys more than 66 per cent of the unemployed persons in the country are graduates or post-graduates; (d) if so, the specific measures taken by Government to remove the skill- employment imbalance affecting the educated youth; and (e) the details of Maharashtra State in this regard? ANSWER MINISTER OF STATE FOR LABOUR AND EMPLOYMENT (SUSHRI SHOBHA KARANDLAJE) (a) to (e): Official estimates of employment and unemployment in India are derived from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), conducted by the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation since 2017–18. The PLFS methodology was revamped with effect from January 2025. The PLFS Annual Report 2025 is the first report in the revised series to present labour market estimates, covering the period from January to December 2025. Also, the estimated Unemployment Rate (UR) for youth of age 15-29 years was 10.9% in 2022, 10.0% in 2023, 10.3% in 2024 and 9.9% in 2025 in the country and the overall estimated UR for persons of age 15 years and above was 3.6% in 2022, 3.1% in 2023, 3.2% in 2024 and 3.1% in 2025. Further, the estimated UR for persons of age 15 years and above was 11.2% for graduates and 10.0% for post-graduates in the year 2025 in the country.State/UT-wise information is available in the PLFS reports which may be seen at the website of MoSPI at https://www.mospi.gov.in/publications-reports. Employment generation coupled with improving employability for youth is a priority of the Government. Accordingly, Government is implementing various employment generation schemes/ programmes in the country (including for Maharashtra State). The details of various employment generation schemes/ programmes being implemented by the Government may be seen at https://dge.gov.in/dge/schemes_programmes. Additionally, Government is also implementing Skill India Mission (SIM) to deliver skill, re-skill and up-skill training through an extensive network of skill development centres/ schools/ colleges /institutes etc. under various schemes, viz. Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), Jan Shikshan Sansthan (JSS), National Apprenticeship Promotion Scheme (NAPS) and Craftsmen Training Scheme (CTS) through Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) in the country. The SIM aims at enabling youth of India to get future ready, equipped with industry relevant skills. The Ministry of MSME launched Udyam Registration Portal on 01.07.2020 for formalizing enterprises, expanding access to government support and strengthening the MSME ecosystem. A total of 8.9 crore Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have been registered on Udyam Registration Portal, including Udyam Assist Platform (UAP), providing employment to over 39 crore people across the country. Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) has initiated ‘FutureSkills PRIME’ a programme for Re-skilling/Up-skilling of IT Manpower for Employability in 10 new/emerging technologies including Artificial Intelligence. Also, the Government is implementing Employment Linked Incentive (ELI) Scheme named as the Pradhan Mantri Viksit Bharat Rozgar Yojana to support employment generation, enhance employability and social security across all sectors, with special focus on the manufacturing sector. The scheme with an outlay of Rs 99,446 Crore aims to incentivize the creation of more than 3.5 Crore jobs in the country, over a period of 2 years. Further, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of India, is running the National Career Service (NCS) Portal which is a one-stop solution for providing career related services including jobs from private and government sectors, information on online & offline job fairs, job search & matching, career counselling, vocational guidance, information on skill development courses, skill/training programmes etc. through a digital platform [www.ncs.gov.in]. *****