UPSC Prelims Practice Questions — Female LFPR maintains upward momentum Unemployment Rate declines Overall WPR rises Self-employment grew modestly

Q1. The headline labour market indicators — Labour Force Participation Rate, Worker Population Ratio and Unemployment Rate under the Current Weekly Status — released through the Periodic Labour Force Survey bulletins are compiled and published by which one of the following?

  • A. The National Statistical Office (NSO) under the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation
  • B. The Directorate General of Employment under the Ministry of Labour and Employment
  • C. The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation under the Ministry of Labour and Employment
  • D. The Development Monitoring and Evaluation Office under NITI Aayog

Q2. The PLFS replaced the earlier 'quinquennial' Employment–Unemployment Survey of the NSSO. In this context, the term 'quinquennial' refers to a survey conducted:

  • A. Once every five years
  • B. Once every ten years
  • C. Once every quarter
  • D. Once every calendar year

Q3. The monthly rotational panel scheme introduced from January 2025 as part of the revamped PLFS design — under which each selected household is visited four times over four consecutive months — is implemented by which one of the following?

  • A. The National Sample Survey Office (NSSO), the field agency under the NSO/MoSPI
  • B. The Labour Bureau under the Ministry of Labour and Employment
  • C. The National Statistical Commission
  • D. The Directorate General of Employment

Q4. The Oct–Dec 2025 PLFS Quarterly Bulletin, which reported an overall LFPR of 55.8%, presents these headline estimates for which population group and under which reference-period framework?

  • A. Persons aged 15 years and above, under the Current Weekly Status (CWS)
  • B. Persons aged 15 to 59 years, under the Usual Status (ps+ss)
  • C. All persons aged 15 years and above, under the Usual Status (ps+ss)
  • D. Persons aged 18 years and above, under the Current Weekly Status (CWS)

Q5. In the PLFS Quarterly Bulletin, the 'Worker Population Ratio (WPR)' — reported at 53.1% for Oct–Dec 2025 — is defined as:

  • A. The percentage of employed persons in the population
  • B. The percentage of persons in the labour force who are employed
  • C. The percentage of the population either working or seeking/available for work
  • D. The percentage of the labour force that is unemployed

Q6. Which of the following are correctly identified as statistical products/surveys produced by the National Statistical Office (NSO)?

  1. Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS)
  2. Annual Survey of Industries (ASI)
  3. Consumer Price Index for Industrial Workers (CPI-IW)
  4. National Accounts Statistics (GDP estimates)
  • A. 1 and 2 only
  • B. 1, 2 and 4
  • C. 2, 3 and 4
  • D. 1, 3 and 4

Q7. In the PLFS classification of workers by their status in employment, the category 'self-employed' includes which one of the following?

  • A. Own-account workers, employers, and unpaid (contributing) family workers in household enterprises
  • B. Only own-account workers who engage hired labour on a regular basis
  • C. Regular salaried employees who additionally run a side business
  • D. Casual wage labourers engaged on a day-to-day basis

Q8. Among India's employment data sources, the monthly payroll (net new subscriber) data frequently cited as an indicator of the formalisation of the workforce is published by:

  • A. The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) under the Ministry of Labour & Employment
  • B. The National Statistical Office under MoSPI
  • C. The Labour Bureau under the Ministry of Labour & Employment
  • D. The Directorate General of Employment