Key Facts

A study based on two rounds of the Periodic Labour Force Survey (2017-18 and 2023-24) found that India's unemployment rate fell from 6.1% to 3.2%, yet job quality improved only modestly. A Decent Work Index built on employment status, employment opportunity and social security rose from 0.247 to 0.302 across five industries. Manufacturing improved from 0.324 to 0.411 and transport from 0.285 to 0.35, but agriculture, which employs the largest share of workers, stayed lowest at 0.267. Nearly 90% of the workforce remains informal, and women from Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes saw outcomes worsen even as men's improved. Goa, Keralam, Tamil Nadu and Haryana performed better, while Bihar, Jharkhand and Uttar Pradesh lagged.

GK Context

The International Labour Organization defines decent work as productive employment with fair income, workplace rights, social protection and dignity; it is central to Sustainable Development Goal 8. The PLFS, launched in 2017 by the National Statistical Office under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, is India's main source of employment and unemployment data. The four Labour Codes (Wages, Industrial Relations, Social Security, and Occupational Safety, Health and Working Conditions) were notified in 2025, and the e-Shram portal registers unorganised workers.