Employment Rate in the United Kingdom decreased to 75.10 percent in August from 75.20 percent in July of 2025. This dataset provides - United Kingdom Employment Rate- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

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.

As of the second quarter of 2025, the employment rate of England stood at 75.6 percent, the highest employment rate of the four countries of the United Kingdom. By contrast, Northern Ireland had the lowest employment rate, at 71.6 percent.

Employment levels and rates by country of birth and nationality, UK, published quarterly, non-seasonally adjusted. Labour Force Survey. These are official statistics in development.

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

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, South West England had the highest rate of employment in the United Kingdom at 80.2 percent. By contrast, North East England had the lowest employment rate at 68.2 percent.

The unemployment rate of the United Kingdom was 4.8 percent in August 2025, unchanged from the previous month. Before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK had relatively low levels of unemployment, comparable with the mid-1970s. Between January 2000 and the most recent month, unemployment was highest in November 2011, when the unemployment rate hit 8.5 percent. Will unemployment continue to rise in 2025? Although low by historic standards, there has been a noticeable uptick in the UK's unemployment rate, with other labor market indicators also pointing to further loosening. In December 2024, the number of job vacancies in the UK fell to its lowest level since May 2021, while payrolled employment declined by 47,000 compared with November. Whether this is a continuation of a broader cooling of the labor market since 2022 or a reaction to more recent economic developments, such as upcoming tax rises for employers, remains to be seen. Forecasts made in late 2024 suggest that the unemployment rate will remain relatively stable in 2025, averaging out at 4.1 percent and falling again to four percent in 2026.
Demographics of the unemployed As of the third quarter of 2024, the unemployment rate for men was slightly higher than that of women, at 4.4 percent, compared to 4.1 percent. During the financial crisis at the end of the 2000s, the unemployment rate for women peaked at a quarterly rate of 7.7 percent, whereas for men, the rate was 9.1 percent. Unemployment is also heavily associated with age, and young people in general are far more vulnerable to unemployment than older age groups. In late 2011, for example, the unemployment rate for those aged between 16 and 24 reached 22.3 percent, compared with 8.2 percent for people aged 25 to 34, while older age groups had even lower peaks during this time.

As of the second quarter of 2025, the employment rate in the United Kingdom was highest among 35 to 49-year-old's, with **** percent of that age group employed. In the same quarter, approximately **** percent of over 65s were employed, a peak for this provided time period, while the employment rate for 16 to 24s was **** percent, one of the lowest rates for this age group.

Employment by age and sex for UK regions and countries, rolling three-monthly figures published monthly, not seasonally adjusted. Labour Force Survey.

Number and percentage of residents aged 16-64 who are in employment by sex (000's) (seasonally adjusted), for rolling quarters since 1992 by region and country. The figures in this dataset are adjusted to compensate for seasonal variations in employment. Figures are released every month for rolling quarters. Data from ONS Table HI00. The data are taken from the Labour Force Survey and Annual Population Survey, produced by the Office for National Statistics. Click here to visit the Regional labour market statistics pages from the Office for National Statistics Note: From 17 December 2024, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) reweighted Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates, affecting data from January to March 2019 onwards. This reweighting, based on updated 2022 population projections, creates a discontinuity with data prior to January - March 2019. To mitigate this, ONS has modelled seasonally adjusted UK employment, unemployment, and economic inactivity rates and levels by sex and age band back to 2011, ensuring comparability for key measures.

Labour market activity by nationality, country of birth and age, UK, published quarterly, non-seasonally adjusted. Labour Force Survey. These are official statistics in development.

Employment, unemployment and economic inactivity levels and rates by age group, UK, rolling three-monthly figures, seasonally adjusted. Labour Force Survey. These are official statistics in development.

Unemployment Rate in the United Kingdom increased to 4.80 percent in August from 4.70 percent in July of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United Kingdom Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Employment, high-skilled employment, unemployment and inactivity rates by graduate type (postgraduates, graduates and non-graduates) in 2022 and 2023.

Graph and download economic data for Infra-Annual Labor Statistics: Employment Rate Male: From 15 to 24 Years for United Kingdom (LREM24MAGBQ156N) from Q2 1992 to Q2 2025 about employment-population ratio, 15 to 24 years, males, United Kingdom, population, employment, and rate.

In 2025, the annual employment rate in the United Kingdom is expected to be **** percent, compared with **** percent in 2024.

International comparisons of employment, unemployment and economic inactivity, published monthly. Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.

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, high-skilled employment, inactivity and unemployment rates by graduate type (postgraduates, graduates and non-graduates) from 2007-2024.