Chandigarh: Punjab and Himachal Pradesh have recorded substantially high unemployment rates, with joblessness among youth higher than the national average, according to latest Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) for April-June 2026 released by National Statistics Office.While unemployment rate in Punjab rose during April June quarter compared with Jan-March, Himachal witnessed a decline. In contrast, Haryana recorded a substantially lower rate of joblessness.The PLFS data showed unemployment rate among persons aged 15-29 years stood at 24.1% in Himachal — fourth highest in the country after Kerala, Chhattisgarh and Jammu and Kashmir — and 22.3% in Punjab, compared with 15.9% at all-India level.Haryana recorded a youth unemployment rate of 11.8%. In comparison, during previous quarter, unemployment rate among this age group was 20.2% in Punjab, 26.7% in Himachal and 15% at the all-India level.The hill state’s youth unemployment rate was 8.2 percent age points higher than national average, while Punjab’s rate was 6.4 percentage points higher than all-India average. Haryana’s rate was 4.1 percentage points below all-India figure.In the age group of 15 years and above, unemployment rate stood at 8.5% in Punjab, 3.1 percentage points above national average, followed by 6.3% in Himachal and 4.8% in Haryana, against all-India rate of 5.4%.In Punjab, unemployment rate among young women aged 15-29 years, covering rural and urban areas, stood at 31.4%, compared with 19.5% among young men. In Himachal, corresponding rates were 34.4% for women and 18.4% for men.Haryana logged rates of 15.6% for young women and 11.2% for young men, which were 19.6% for young women and 14.5% (young men) nationally.Punjab recorded unemployment rates of 7.9% for men and 10.3% for women in 15 years-and-above category. In Haryana, rates were 5.0% for men and 3.9% for women, while Himachal recorded 6.4% for men and 6.1% for women.The all-India rates were 5.3% for men and 5.7% for women.Among those aged 15-29 years, Labour Force Participation Rate, which measures the proportion of the population that is either employed or unemployed and available for work, stood at 47.6% in Punjab, 45.8% in Himachal and 36.0% in Haryana, compared with 40.7% nationally.
