The overall Labour Force Participation Rate (LFPR) for individuals aged 15 and older rose to 55.4% in July 2026, up from 54.4% in June 2026. This increase came after a decline from March to May 2026 and no change in June. In rural regions, the LFPR for this age group increased to 58.0% from 56.6%, a rise of 1.4 percentage points. Urban areas saw a slight increase in LFPR, moving from 50.1% in June to 50.4% in July.

When comparing to the previous year, the overall LFPR increased by 0.5 percentage point from 54.9% in July 2025 to 55.4% in July 2026. Rural LFPR grew by 1.1 percentage points from 56.9% to 58.0%, while urban LFPR slightly declined by 0.3 percentage point from 50.7% to 50.4%.

The overall female LFPR rose significantly from 32.7% in June 2026 to 34.4% in July 2026. Rural female LFPR increased from 36.6% to 38.8%, and urban female LFPR went up from 24.8% to 25.3%. Compared to July 2025, the overall female LFPR rose by 1.1 percentage points from 33.3% to 34.4%. In rural areas, female LFPR increased by 1.9 percentage points from 36.9% to 38.8%, but urban female LFPR saw a minor decline of 0.5 percentage point from 25.8% to 25.3%.

The Worker Population Ratio (WPR) for those aged 15 and above also improved in July 2026, rising to 52.5% from 51.4% in June. In rural areas, WPR increased from 53.8% to 55.4%, while urban WPR saw a slight rise from 46.8% to 47.0%. Notably, rural female WPR increased by 2.5 percentage points from 34.7% to 37.2%, and urban female WPR climbed from 22.7% to 23.1%.

Year-on-year, overall WPR was up by 0.5 percentage point in July 2026 compared to July 2025. Urban WPR remained constant at 47.0%, while rural WPR increased by 1.0 percentage point.

The overall unemployment rate (UR) for individuals aged 15 and older dropped to 5.1% in July 2026 from 5.5% in June. Rural UR decreased from 5.0% to 4.5%, while urban UR was almost steady at 6.7% compared to 6.6%. When looking back to July 2025, overall and rural UR remained stable, with urban UR declining by 0.5 percentage point.

For males aged 15 and above, UR decreased from 5.3% in June 2026 to 5.0% in July 2026, which is also lower than July 2025’s 5.3%. Rural male UR fell from 4.9% in June to 4.6% in July and was the same as in July 2025. Urban male UR saw little change compared to the previous month but declined by 0.7 percentage point from 6.6% in July 2025 to 5.9% in July 2026.

Among females aged 15 and older, overall and rural UR dropped in July 2026 compared to June, though they were higher than the previous year. Urban female UR rose by 0.4 percentage points to 8.8% from 8.4% in June, remaining stable compared to July 2025's 8.7%.