Ten points apart in the towns
In September 2026, the unemployment rate of women aged 15 to 29 in urban India was 26.6%, against 16.4% for men of the same age. The gap is 10.2 points.
In rural India the same two rates were 14.5% and 12.7%, 1.8 points apart. Young women’s rate is 12.1 points higher in towns than in villages; young men’s, 3.7 points.
At all ages from 15, urban women’s rate was 9.2%, against 6.0% for urban men. In rural India, women’s rate, 3.9%, was below men’s, 4.4%. For the whole country it was 5.0%.
Every month since April 2025
The monthly bulletins began in April 2025, and in each of the 18 months since, young urban women’s rate has been at least 8.0 points above young urban men’s. The widest gap, 11.3 points, was in July 2026.
Their rate has ranged from 23.7% to 27.2%, and young men’s from 15.0% to 17.1%. In September 2025 it was 26.4%, 0.2 points below September 2026.
In rural India the gap has gone both ways, from 2.3 points below young men’s rate to 4.7 points above. In no month was it as wide as in the towns.
| Month | Urban women | Urban men | Urban gap | Rural women | Rural men |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 2025 | 23.7% | 15.0% | +8.7 | 10.7% | 13.0% |
| May 2025 | 24.4% | 15.8% | +8.6 | 13.0% | 14.0% |
| Jun 2025 | 25.8% | 16.6% | +9.2 | 13.7% | 13.8% |
| Jul 2025 | 25.1% | 17.1% | +8.0 | 13.0% | 13.0% |
| Aug 2025 | 25.7% | 15.6% | +10.1 | 14.3% | 12.6% |
| Sep 2025 | 26.4% | 16.0% | +10.4 | 14.1% | 13.0% |
| Oct 2025 | 26.3% | 15.8% | +10.5 | 13.2% | 13.2% |
| Nov 2025 | 25.7% | 15.3% | +10.4 | 12.5% | 12.4% |
| Dec 2025 | 24.9% | 15.8% | +9.1 | 12.7% | 12.6% |
| Jan 2026 | 26.4% | 16.0% | +10.4 | 14.2% | 12.3% |
| Feb 2026 | 24.9% | 16.1% | +8.8 | 14.6% | 12.5% |
| Mar 2026 | 24.5% | 16.5% | +8.0 | 14.8% | 13.2% |
| Apr 2026 | 24.5% | 15.9% | +8.6 | 16.2% | 13.3% |
| May 2026 | 23.7% | 15.6% | +8.1 | 16.9% | 14.5% |
| Jun 2026 | 25.3% | 16.0% | +9.3 | 18.6% | 13.9% |
| Jul 2026 | 27.2% | 15.9% | +11.3 | 16.0% | 13.4% |
| Aug 2026 | 26.4% | 16.2% | +10.2 | 14.9% | 12.7% |
| Sep 2026 | 26.6% | 16.4% | +10.2 | 14.5% | 12.7% |
Who is counted
The unemployment rate is a share of the labour force: everyone who worked, or sought or was available for work, in the survey week. It is not a share of everyone aged 15 to 29.
Unemployed, in the monthly bulletin, means no work for even one hour in the 7 days before the survey, while seeking or available for work. The PLFS annual report uses a different measure, usual status, and the two do not mix.
Urban and rural are the survey’s two sectors, for the whole of India. In September 2026 it surveyed 370,513 people, 159,180 of them in urban areas.
- THE LABOUR FORCE: everyone who worked, or sought or was available for work, in the survey week. The unemployment rate is the unemployed divided by them, not by everyone of that age.
- UNEMPLOYED: did not work for even one hour on any day of the 7 days before the survey, but sought or was available for work for at least one hour. This is the Current Weekly Status of the monthly bulletins, not the usual status of the annual report.
- URBAN AND RURAL: the survey’s two sectors, for the whole of India. The bulletin has no city, state or region.
So 26.6% does not say that a quarter of young urban women are unemployed: it says that of the 22.1% of them in the labour force, 26.6% had no work in the survey week.
A rate with a narrow denominator, a single week and a survey sector, and a reading that forgets any of them says what the source does not.
Fewer in the labour force, more without work
Only 22.1% of urban women aged 15 to 29 were in the labour force in September 2026, against 60.4% of urban men. In rural India the share was 21.2% for young women.
So young women’s participation is almost the same in towns and villages, but their unemployment rate is not: 26.6% against 14.5%.
Counted against everyone their age, the unemployed were 5.9% of young urban women and 9.9% of young urban men. These two figures are the desk’s, the labour force share minus the working share.
| Group | In labour force | Working | Unemployment rate | Unemployed, share of all |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Urban women | 22.1% | 16.2% | 26.6% | 5.9% |
| Urban men | 60.4% | 50.5% | 16.4% | 9.9% |
| Rural women | 21.2% | 18.1% | 14.5% | 3.1% |
| Rural men | 61.4% | 53.6% | 12.7% | 7.8% |
What these figures do not say
They do not say why. Nothing here measures education, marriage, family, safety, the jobs on offer or how employers hire, and no policy is assessed.
They do not break India down by city, state or region, and they compare India only with itself.
They describe one week a month up to September 2026. The bulletin publishes no standard error for the 15 to 29 group, so a change of a few tenths from one month to the next proves nothing, and none of this is a forecast.
