J&K unemployment rises above national average: GoI

New Delhi, Dec 15: Jammu and Kashmir’s unemployment rate for July-September 2025 stood at 6.1 percent—exceeding the national average of 5.2 percent, the Parliament was informed on Monday.
In a written reply to a Rajya Sabha question by MP P. Santhosh Kumar, Minister of State (Independent Charge) Rao Inderjit Singh said that the figures were drawn from the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) Quarterly Bulletin.
Urban areas of the Union Territory showed a sharper gap, with unemployment at 10.6 per cent, compared with 5.1 per cent in rural areas.
Female unemployment in J&K was notably higher, reaching 20.8 per cent in urban regions, while male unemployment across rural and urban areas stood at 4.6 per cent.
The overall labour force participation rate in the Union Territory was reported at 61 per cent, above the national figure of 55.1 per cent, with the Worker Population Ratio at 57.3 per cent.
Singh said that the National Career Service portal, managed by the Ministry of Labour and Employment, had registered over 6 crore job seekers and 54 lakh employers as of November 2025, aiming to connect talent with opportunities across sectors. (KNO)