-- India's unemployment rate rose to 5.1% in March from from 4.9% in February, driven by the urban unemployment rate, according to government data released by the Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation on Wednesday.
Unemployment in urban areas rose to 6.8% in March from 6.6% in the previous month, while rural unemployment was up at 4.3% in March from the previous month's level of 4.2%.
Female unemployment increased to 5.3% in the reported month from 5.1% a month ago. The rural female unemployment rate rose to 4.1% from 4.0%, while the urban female unemployment rate climbed to 9.0% in March from 8.7% in the previous month.
The male unemployment rate also rose to 5.0% in March from 4.8% in February. Rural male unemployment rate in March grew to 4.4% from 4.2% in the preceding month, while urban male unemployment rate moved up to 6.1% in the reported month, from 5.9%.
India's overall Labour Force Participation Rate slipped to 55.4% in March, compared with 55.9% in the previous month.