There has been a decrease in urban unemployment and an increase in rural employment in the secondary and tertiary sectors during the January-March quarter of this year, as per the Ministry of Statistics. The urban unemployment rate for individuals aged 15 years and above dropped to 6.6% from 6.7% in the previous quarter.
In rural areas, the percentage of regular wage and salaried employees rose to 15.5% in January-March from 14.8% in the previous quarter. Additionally, there was a growth in rural employment in both the secondary and tertiary sectors.
The sectoral distribution of employment shows a consistent pattern, with rural workers mainly in the primary sector and urban workers in the tertiary sector. In rural regions, the share of agriculture workers decreased to 55.8% in January-March 2026 from 58.5% in the previous quarter. Meanwhile, the share of employment in the tertiary sector increased to 21.7% from 20.6% in the current quarter.
The secondary sector, including mining and quarrying in rural areas, saw an increase from 20.9% in the previous quarter to 22.6% in the current quarter. Urban areas maintained a stable distribution of workers across sectors. On average, around 57.4 crore individuals aged 15 years and above were employed in India during the January-March quarter, with 40.2 crore males and 17.2 crore females.
