The average unemployment rate across 46 cities with population of 10 lakh or more stands at 6.8 per cent, broadly in line with the overall urban unemployment rate in India.
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MAHINSHA S
Prayagraj and Patna are among 46 cities with population of 10 lakh or more (million plus) that have unemployment rate more than 20 per cent, while Ahmedabad and Kolkata have the lowest rate with less than 2.5 per cent, a Statistics Ministry report showed.
According to the report, ‘Labour Market Dynamics in Million-plus Cities,’ the average unemployment rate across 46 cities with population of 10 lakh or more stands at 6.8 per cent, broadly in line with the overall urban unemployment rate in India.
The report has been prepared using first-visit data collected under the PLFS (Periodic Labour Force Survey) during the January–December 2025 survey cycle. The survey covered over 19,000 households with around 60,000 persons with the age of 15 year years or more in million plus cities.
Female vs male
Data showed that in Prayagraj unemployment rate for female was over 31 per cent and around 23 per cent for male in the current weekly status approach (CWS). In Patna, female unemployment rate was over 36 per cent, while for male it was around 18 per cent. It may be noted that the estimate of unemployed in the current weekly status gives an average picture of unemployment in a short period of 7 days during the survey period. A person was considered unemployed in a week if he/she did not work even for 1 hour during the week but sought or was available for work at least for 1 hour during the week.
Although the report has not mentioned reasons for high unemployment rates in various cities, it is believed that cities like Prayagraj and Patna have large number of students from various parts of the States, preparing for competitive examinations. At the same time, a city like Ahmedabad and surrounding areas have various industries and businesses, creating large number of jobs. Kolkata hosts a good number of IT and ITES units, thus bringing down the unemployment rate.
Overall Picture
Meanwhile, the employment patterns reveal a clear distinction between million-plus cities and urban India. Regular wage/ salary employment is markedly higher in million-plus cities (58.5 per cent) against urban India (47.6 per cent), while casual work is nearly half (6.3 per cent vs. 12 per cent). Female participation in regular employment is also stronger in million-plus cities (65.1 per cent vs. 50.9 per cent) compared with urban India. Further, in million-plus cities female surpassing their male counterparts in regular wage/salary jobs by a notable margin (65.1 per cent vs. 56.4 per cent).
In million-plus cities, male labour force participation (LFPR) was broadly comparable with urban India at 75.3 under CWS and female at 25.8 (tad lower than urban). The male population not in the labour force in million-plus cities was largely characterised by those pursuing education, with 53.5 per cent reporting the desire to continue studies as their primary reason. Health and age-related reasons followed at 38.9 per cent. Among female outside the labour force, childcare responsibilities/ personal Labour Market Dynamics in Million-plus Cities 7 commitments in homemaking accounted for 68.7 per cent , making these the predominant reason for female non-participation.
A comparison of wages/ earnings indicates that workers in million-plus cities enjoyed a clear earnings advantage over the urban India average across all employment categories. Self-employed workers earned ₹30,858 compared to ₹23,013 in urban India, while regular wage/salaried employees received ₹28,808 against ₹26,258 and casual labour earned ₹624 per day compared to ₹550.
Published on July 5, 2026
