New Delhi: India’s unemployment rate has increased to an 11-month high of 5.5% in May. The latest monthly bulletin of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS), released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Monday (June 15), reveals that this figure was this figure was 5.2% in April, reported Business Standard.The PLFS further indicated that the worker population ratio (WPR), which shows the number of persons/person-days employed per 1,000 persons/person-days, decreased to an 11-month low of 51.4% in May from 52.2% in April.Meanwhile, the labour-force participation rate (LFPR), which is the percentage of the population which is either working or actively looking for work also stood at an 11-month low of 54.4% in May, down from 55% in April.“The moderation in LFPR and WPR with an increase in UR indicates a softening of labour market conditions during the period. While labour force participation declined marginally, employment opportunities contracted at a faster pace, leading to a rise in the proportion of unemployed persons within the labour force. The decline in labour market indicators may be linked to a seasonal moderation in economic activity during May 2026,” said the NSO in a statement.The Wire had earlier reported that the unemployment rate among young people aged 15-29 rose to 15% in the January-March quarter. The figure was 14.3% in the October-December quarter.The Business Standard report added that the overall unemployment rate among men rose to 5.4% in May from 5.1% recorded in April. Meanwhile, the female unemployment rate increased to 5.6% in May from 5.4% the preceding month.The sampling methodology of the PLFS was revamped in January last year to estimate the key employment and unemployment indicators monthly for rural and urban areas in the CWS method at all-India level.