5TH Annual Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Report Released By The National Statistical Office (NSO)

February 27, 2023

It covers July 2021 to June 2022 period.
All India Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) increased to 55.2% (Rural-57.5%, Urban-49.7%; Male-77.2%, Female-32.8%) from 54.9’o in 2020-21.
Worker Population Ratio (WPR) increased to 52.9% (Rural-55.6%, Urban-46.6%; Male-73.8%, Female-31.7%) from 52.6% in 2020-21.
Unemployment Rate (UR) decreased to 4.1% (Rural-3.2%, Urban-6.3%; Male-4.4%, Female-3.3%) from 4.2% in 2020-21.
PLFS categorises workforce into self-employed (which includes own account workers, employers and unpaid helpers in family enterprises); regular wage/salaried workers and casual labourers.
- Own account workers run small enterprises without hiring any labour but may take help from family members, while employers hire workers.
PLFS was launched in 2017.

Objective of PLFS is to estimate

Key employment and unemployment indicators (viz. WPR, LFPR, UR ) in short time interval of three months for urban areas only in “Current Weekly Status”(CWS).
Estimate employment and unemployment indicators in both ‘Usual Status’ (principal activity status + subsidiary economic activity status) and CWS in both rural and urban areas annually.

Terminologies

Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) – Percentage of persons in labour force (i.e. working or seeking or available for work) in the population.
Worker Population Ratio (WPR) – Percentage of employed persons in the population.
Unemployment Rate (UR) – Percentage of persons unemployed among the persons in labour force.
Activity status– Determined on the basis of activities pursued by person during the specified reference period.
- Usual Status – activity status is determined on the basis of the reference period of last 365 days preceding the date of survey.
- Current Weekly Status– activity status determined on the basis of a reference period of last 7 days preceding the date of survey.