There were over 34.2 million people employed in the United Kingdom in the three months to July 2025. In general, the number of people employed has consistently increased, with noticeable dips in employment occurring in 2008 due to the global financial crisis and in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Labor market hot streak in 2022 Although there was a sharp increase in the UK's unemployment rate in the aftermath of COVID-19, the UK labor market bounced back forcefully after this sudden shock. By the middle of 2022, the UK's unemployment rate had recovered to pre-pandemic levels, while the number of job vacancies in the UK reached record highs. Wage growth was, by this point, growing at a much slower rate than inflation, which peaked at 11.1 percent in October 2022. In the two years since this peak, the UK labor market has cooled slightly, with unemployment reaching 4.4 percent by December 2024 and the number of job vacancies falling to the lowest figures since May 2021. Characteristics of UK workers As of 2024, the majority of UK workers were working in the private sector, at over 27.6 million workers. In the same year, the size of the UK's public sector workforce stood at approximately 6.1 million, with over two million of these people working for the UK's National Health Service (NHS) and a further 1.66 million in the public education sector. In the UK's private sector, the industry sector that employed the most people was wholesale and retail, which had a workforce of over 4.9 million people, followed by administrative and support service roles at around 3.1 million.

As of the second quarter of 2025, there were around 4.4 million self-employed workers in the United Kingdom. During this provided time period, self-employment in the UK has grown steadily, from 3.2 million in December 2000 to a peak of over five million at the end of 2019. After the COVID-19 pandemic, however, self-employment has fallen to levels not seen since the middle of 2015 and has struggled to recover to its pre-pandemic peak. Demographics of the self-employed There has consistently been more men self-employed than women in the UK, with recent figures showing that over 2.8 million men and over 1.5 million women were self-employed. As of 2024, the most likely age group to be self-employed were those aged 65 or over, with over a third of workers in this age group self-employed. In the same year, around 16.5 percent of workers in London were self-employed, compared with the UK average of 13.1 percent, making London the region with the highest rate of self-employment in the UK. Self-employment support scheme In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK government unveiled various measures to mitigate the economic costs to businesses and individuals. For self-employed workers, this manifested itself as the Self-Employment Income-Support Scheme, which was in its third iteration, or tranche, by December 2020. During the first tranche, which ran from March to July, there were 2.7 million claims made in total, with claims to the second and third tranches numbering 2.4 million and 1.7 million, respectively. As of December 13, 2020, the overall value of these claims amounted to 14.5 billion British pounds.

39.8% of workers from the Indian ethnic group were in 'professional' jobs in 2021 – the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups in this role.

Employment by industry and sex, UK, published quarterly, non-seasonally adjusted. Labour Force Survey. These are official statistics in development.

In the combined Pakistani and Bangladeshi ethnic group in 2021, 16.2% of workers were self-employed, which is the highest percentage out of all ethnic groups.

Employees and self-employed, by industry sectors and sex, UK, published quarterly, non-seasonally adjusted. Labour Force Survey. These are official statistics in development.

In 2022, employed people in the white ‘other’ and Indian ethnic groups (both 82%) were the most likely to work full time out of all ethnic groups.

In 2025, large businesses in the United Kingdom that individually employed 1,000 or more workers collectively employed around 8.3 million people.

In July 2025, the employment rate in the United Kingdom was 75.2 percent, down from 75.3 percent in the previous month. After almost dropping below 70 percent in 2011, the employment rate in the United Kingdom started to climb at a relatively fast pace, peaking in early 2020. Due to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, however, employment declined to 74.6 percent by January 2021. Although not quite at pre-pandemic levels, the employment rate has since recovered. Labor market trouble in 2025? Although unemployment in the UK spiked at 5.3 percent in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, it fell throughout most of 2022, to just 3.6 percent in August 2022. Around that time, the number of job vacancies in the UK was also at quite high levels, reaching a peak of 1.3 million by May 2022. The strong labor market put employees in quite a strong position, perhaps encouraging the high number of resignations that took place around that time. Since 2023, however, the previously hot labor market has cooled, with unemployment reaching 4.6 percent in April 2025 and job vacancies falling to a four-year low of 736,000 in May 2025. Furthermore, the number of employees on UK payrolls has fallen by 227,500 in the first five months of the year, indicating that 2025 will be a tough one for the labor market. Headline economic measures revised in early 2025 Along with the unemployment rate, the UK's inflation rate is also expected to be higher than initially thought in 2025, reaching a rate of 3.2 percent for the year. The economy will also grow at a slower pace of one percent rather than the initial prediction of two percent. Though these negative trends are not expected to continue in the long term, the current government has already expended significant political capital on unpopular decisions, such as the cutting of Winter Fuel Payments to pensioners in 2024. As of June 2025, they are almost as unpopular as the previous government, with a net approval rating of -52 percent.

This dataset has now been discontinued following a user consultation. However figures for employment by occupation, sourced from our Annual Population Survey are available on our NOMIS website.

Analysis of self-employment in NUTS1 regions in the UK from the Annual Population Survey.

Quarterly estimates of UK and regional public sector employment, made up of central government, local government, and public corporations.

Annual employee and employment estimates for Great Britain and UK split by two, three and five-digit Standard Industrial Classification: SIC 2007. Results given by full-time or part-time and public or private splits.

Numbers of jobs in an area by gender, and whether an employee or self-employed. This data shows the number of jobs, not the number of people. People with more than one job are counted more than once. Figures may not add up due to rounding. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand. Percentages are rounded to one decimal place and were calculated on unrounded figures. Employees - An employee is anyone aged 16 years or over that an organisation directly pays from its payroll(s), in return for carrying out a full-time or part-time job or being on a training scheme. It excludes voluntary workers, self-employed and working owners who are not paid via PAYE People who are self-employed in a second job are included in the self-employed totals. Self-employment data is taken from the Annual Population Survey, and is by place of work. The micro data is available from the UK Data Archive. The male/female split for employee jobs was taken from the Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings data from NOMISweb.co.uk. These proportions were then applied to the BRES employee totals since the ASHE is a not a reliable source for total employee jobs. See more on the BRES website. Modelled estimates and projections of jobs are available in the GLA Employment Projections. These are considered to be the most accurate jobs estimates at borough level.

Public and private sector employment, UK, published quarterly, seasonally adjusted.

United Kingdom UK: Part Time Employment: % of Total Employment data was reported at 33.690 % in 2017. This records a decrease from the previous number of 34.070 % for 2016. United Kingdom UK: Part Time Employment: % of Total Employment data is updated yearly, averaging 33.310 % from Dec 1983 (Median) to 2017, with 35 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 36.160 % in 2010 and a record low of 27.190 % in 1983. United Kingdom UK: Part Time Employment: % of Total Employment data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.World Bank.WDI: Employment and Unemployment. Part time employment refers to regular employment in which working time is substantially less than normal. Definitions of part time employment differ by country.; ; International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database. Data retrieved in September 2018.; Weighted average; Relevance to gender indicator: More and more women are working part-time and one of the concern is that part time work does not provide the stability that full time work does.

Employees receiving job-related training, by sex, UK, published quarterly, non-seasonally adjusted. Labour Force Survey. These are official statistics in development.

Table showing numbers of people who work in an area by public/private sector and whether full-time or part-time. Data from Business Register Employment Survey (BRES, ONS) Employment is defined as employees plus working proprietors Figures may not add up due to rounding. Figures are rounded to the nearest thousand and to one decimal place. For example 2.4 is equal to 2,400 employment, and represents a figure in the range 2,350 - 2,449. Employees - An employee is anyone aged 16 years or over that an organisation directly pays from its payroll(s), in return for carrying out a full-time or part-time job or being on a training scheme. It excludes voluntary workers, self-employed and working owners who are not paid via PAYE Working Proprietors are sole traders, sole proprietors, partners and directors. This does not apply to registered charities Employment = employees + working proprietors Part time - those working 30 hours or less per week Full time - those working more than 30 hours per week The private sector is defined as: Company, Sole Proprietor, Partnership and Non Profit Body or Mutual Association. Public sector employees are those in: Public corporations/ Nationalised Bodies, Central Government and Local Authority. See BRES pages on ONS Website, or download from NOMIS

The Employment Status Indicator (ESI) tool enables enagers to check the employment status of an individual or group of workers - that is, whether they are employed or self-employed for tax, National Insurance contributions (NICs) or VAT purposes. The ESI tool is helpful for anyone who takes on workers, such as employers and contractors. (The tool refers to anyone in this position as an engager.) Individual workers can also use the tool to check their employment status. Updated: Monthly

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