The Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) among persons aged 15 years and above increased to 55.8 percent during October–December 2025, up from 55.1 percent in the July–September 2025 quarter, according to the latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) quarterly bulletin released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation (MoSPI) .

The data showed a rise in female labour force participation, with the overall female LFPR increasing to 34.9 percent in October–December 2025 from 33.7 percent in the previous quarter. The growth was largely driven by rural female participation, which climbed from 37.5 percent to 39.4 percent during the same period, while urban female LFPR remained largely unchanged.

On the employment front, the unemployment rate (UR) declined in both rural and urban areas. In rural areas, the UR fell to 4.0 percent in October–December 2025 from 4.4 percent in the previous quarter, supported by lower unemployment among both men and women. In urban areas, the UR eased to 6.7 percent from 6.9 percent, mainly due to a reduction in urban male unemployment from 6.2 percent to 5.9 percent.

The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for persons aged 15 years and above also improved, rising to 53.1 percent in October–December 2025 from 52.2 percent in the previous quarter, largely due to increased participation in rural areas. Female WPR continued to show improvement, indicating a steady rise in women’s workforce engagement.

Self-employment recorded a modest increase in rural areas, with the share of self-employed persons rising to 63.2 percent from 62.8 percent in the previous quarter, while urban self-employment stood at 39.7 percent. Agriculture remained the dominant source of rural employment, accounting for 58.5 percent of workers, up from 57.7 percent earlier, whereas in urban areas the tertiary sector continued to be the largest employer, engaging 61.9 percent of workers.