India's national unemployment rate in July 2005 was:

Correct answer: (b) 4.8 percent

Explanation

The unemployment rate is the share of the labour force (people who are working or looking for work) that has no work: unemployed persons ÷ labour force × 100.

In 2005, India measured unemployment through the National Sample Survey, using several measures: usual status (over a year), current weekly status and current daily status, which give quite different rates. Since 2017-18 the Periodic Labour Force Survey (PLFS) of the National Statistical Office gives the official figures, quarterly for urban areas and yearly for the whole country.

The key gives 4.8% as the rate for July 2005.

The key's figure of 4.8% could not be confirmed in an official source: the National Sample Survey of 2004–05 gave rates from about 2% to 8%, depending on the measure used.