The Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) conducted between July 2022 and June 2023 was the first one conducted after the Covid-19 pandemic almost completely subsided. Data released from the survey in October shows that key trends in India’s labour market remain the same as during the pandemic: a rise in labour force participation, a fall in the headline unemployment rate, an increase in unpaid work, and a shift in work to rural areas. That indicates these trends may be here to stay, which makes it worth to unpack them. In a four-part data journalism series, HT will seek to do just that. The first part describes the growth of India’s labour force.