Executive Summary:
The Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has revamped the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) starting January 2025. The revamp aims to provide high-frequency labour market indicators with enhanced coverage, including rural areas. This will enable monthly and quarterly estimates of employment and unemployment indicators at the country level and for major states.
Key Points / Main Content:
Objectives of Revamped PLFS:
* Estimate key employment and unemployment indicators (LFPR, WPR, UR) monthly for rural and urban areas at the all-India level in Current Weekly Status (CWS).
* Extend quarterly PLFS results to rural areas, producing quarterly estimates at the country level and for major states in CWS.
* Estimate employment and unemployment indicators in both usual status (psss) and CWS in rural and urban areas annually.
Updation in PLFS Dissemination:
* Monthly estimates of key labour market indicators (LFPR, WPR, UR) will be available at the all-India level in CWS.
* Quarterly estimates of employment unemployment indicators will be available for both rural and urban areas, and hence for the entire country.
Enhanced Sample Size:
* The revamped PLFS employs a multistage stratified design using census 2011 villages and Urban Frame Survey (UFS) blocks.
* A total sample size of 22,692 FSUs will be surveyed annually (12,504 rural, 10,188 urban) in each year of the two-year panel.
* Twelve households will be surveyed per FSU, resulting in an overall sample size of approximately 2,72,304 households.
Impact Analysis:
National Statistics Office (NSO):
* Impact: Responsible for conducting the revamped PLFS and disseminating the resulting data.
* Action Required: Implement the revamped sampling design, collect and process data, and release monthly and quarterly estimates.
Policy Makers:
* Impact: Will have access to more frequent and comprehensive labour market data for informed decision-making and timely policy interventions.
* Action Required: Utilize the enhanced data from the revamped PLFS to develop and implement effective employment policies.
General Public/Researchers:
* Impact: Will benefit from more accurate and timely insights into the labor market situation in India.
* Action Required: Utilize the data for research, analysis, and understanding of employment trends.
Key Entities Referenced
Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS): A survey conducted by the National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) to estimate employment and unemployment indicators in India.
National Statistics Office (NSO): The organization under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) responsible for conducting the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI): The Indian government ministry responsible for statistical data collection and analysis, including the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
Current Weekly Status (CWS): A reference period of seven days preceding the date of the survey used to measure employment and unemployment in the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR): A key employment indicator estimated by the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), measuring the proportion of the population that is either employed or actively seeking employment.
Worker Population Ratio (WPR): A key employment indicator estimated by the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), measuring the proportion of the population that is employed.
Unemployment Rate (UR): A key employment indicator estimated by the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), measuring the proportion of the labor force that is unemployed.
Census 2011: The most recent census of India, used as the basis for the sampling frame in the revamped Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS).
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1658
TO BE ANSWERED ON 30.07.2025
REVAMP PLFS
1658. SHRI V K SREEKANDAN:
Will the Minister of STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION
be pleased to state:
(a) whether it is a fact that the Government has decided to revamp
the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) to include employment
and unemployment data from rural areas too and if so, the
details thereof;
(b) whether it is also true that the coverage of the Periodic Labour
Force Survey will be enhanced and the sampling design revamp
will address the requirement for high frequency labour market
indicators and if so, the details thereof;
(c) whether it is a fact that twelve households will be surveyed from
each of the selected First Stage Units, if so, the details thereof;
(d) whether it is true that the enhanced sample size is expected to
provide reliable estimates of labour market indicators with
improved precision; and
(e) if so, the details thereof
ANSWER
MINISTER OF STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF
STATISTICS AND PROGRAMME IMPLEMENTATION; MINISTER OF
STATE (INDEPENDENT CHARGE) OF THE MINISTRY OF PLANNING
AND MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF CULTURE [RAO
INDERJIT SINGH]
(a) to (e): National Statistics Office (NSO) under Ministry of Statistics
and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) has been conducting Periodic
Labour Force Survey (PLFS) since 2017 to estimate various indicators
related to employment and unemployment in the country. The
sampling design of Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) has been
revamped from January 2025 to address the requirement of high
frequency labour market indicators with enhanced coverage from
PLFS. The revamped PLFS is envisaged to address the followingobjectives:
to estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators
(viz. Labour Force Participation Rate, Worker Population Ratio,
Unemployment Rate) on a monthly basis for rural and urban
areas at all-India level in the Current Weekly Status (CWS).
to extend the coverage of the Quarterly results of PLFS to rural
areas and thereby producing quarterly estimates at the country
level and for major States in the Current Weekly Status (CWS) .
to estimate important employment and unemployment indicators
in both usual status (ps+ss) and CWS in both rural and urban
areas annually.
The revamped PLFS sample design from January 2025 results in the
following updation in the PLFS dissemination:
Availability of monthly estimates of key labour market indicators
at the country level: The revamped PLFS sample design will enable
generation of the monthly estimates of key labour market indicators
viz. Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker Population Ratio
(WPR) and Unemployment Rate (UR) at the all-India level following the
Current Weekly Status (CWS) approach. The monthly estimates will
help in timely policy interventions.
Extending quarterly estimates to rural areas: Upto December,
2024, PLFS provided quarterly labour market indicators for the urban
areas only. With the updation in the PLFS sample design quarterly
estimates of employment unemployment indicators will be available
for both rural and urban areas and hence for the entire country.
Enhanced sample size: The revamped PLFS sample design is a
multistage stratified design. List of census 2011 villages / urban
Frame Survey (UFS) blocks / sub-units (for those villages or UFS
blocks where sub-units are formed within) together formed the
sampling frame for selection of the First Stage Units (FSUs). In the
revamped PLFS sample design, a total sample size of 22,692 FSUs is
planned to be surveyed (12,504 FSUs in the rural areas and 10,188 in
the urban areas) in each year of the two-year panel with first visit
schedule as compared to 12,800 FSUs surveyed in PLFS upto
December, 2024.
A total of 12 households will be surveyed from each of the selected
FSUs which implies an overall sample size of around (22,692 x 12) =
2,72,304 households. This marks a 2.65 time increase in sample
households to be covered in PLFS as compared to the number of
sample households covered upto December, 2024 (which was around1,02,400). The enhanced sample size is expected to provide reliable
estimates of labour market indicators with improved precision.
From Monthly Bulletins of PLFS for the months of April, May and June
of 2025, estimates of Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR), Worker
population Ratio (WPR) and Unemployment Rate (UR) in Current
Weekly Status for persons of age 15 years and above are given below
in Table 1:
Table (1): LFPR, WPR and UR (all in %) according to current
weekly status (CWS) from PLFS for persons of age 15 years and
above
all-India
Labour Force Indicators (in percent) in usual status
survey
(ps+ss) for persons of age 15 years and above
month
LFPR in CWS WPR in CWS UR in CWS
April 2025 55.6 52.8 5.1
May 2025 54.8 51.7 5.6
June 2025 54.2 51.2 5.6
Source: Monthly Bulletin, PLFS, June, 2025
Relative Standard Error (RSE) (%) of LFPR, WPR and UR estimates in
CWS for persons aged 15 years and above are given below in Table 2:
Table (2): RSE of LFPR, WPR and UR (all in %) according to
current weekly status (CWS) from PLFS for persons of age 15
years and above
all-India
RSE of Labour Force Indicators (in percent) in usual
survey status (ps+ss) for persons of age 15 years and above
month RSE of LFPR in RSE of WPR RSE of UR in
CWS in CWS CWS
April 2025 0.31 0.34 1.95
May 2025 0.31 0.34 1.83
June 2025 0.31 0.33 1.91
Source: Monthly Bulletin, PLFS, June, 2025
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