New Delhi, Nov. 10 -- India's labour market improved in the July-September quarter, with unemployment easing and more people joining the workforce, driven largely by a seasonal increase in rural employment during the kharif sowing season.

The unemployment rate across both rural and urban India eased to 5.1% in the September quarter, from 5.4% in the previous three months, according to the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) released by the National Statistics Office (NSO) on Tuesday. Rural unemployment declined by 50 basis points to 4.3%, while urban joblessness edged up to 6.8% from 6.7%.

The improvement was accompanied by a rise in labour force participation and the share of people in employment, although the nature of work continued ...