FX.co ★ India Unemployment Rate Holds at 5-Month Low

India’s unemployment rate stood at 5.0% in September 2026, coming in below the median market forecast of 5.2% and matching the five-month low recorded in August, underscoring the continued resilience of the labor market. The headline rate remained unchanged even as both rural and urban unemployment edged higher, with rural joblessness rising to 4.2% from 4.1% in August and urban unemployment increasing to 6.9% from 6.8%. Meanwhile, the labor force participation rate slipped by 0.1 percentage point to 55.5%. A decline in rural participation to 58.0% from 58.2% more than offset a modest uptick in urban participation, which rose to 50.7% from 50.4%.