The unemployment rate of the United Kingdom was five percent in September 2025, up from 4.8 percent in the previous month, and the highest rate of unemployment since 2021. Before the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK had relatively low levels of unemployment. 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.

Unemployment Rate in the United Kingdom increased to 5 percent in September from 4.80 percent in August 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.

The statistic shows the unemployment rate in the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2024. The UK's unemployment rate decreased to 4.11 percent in 2024. Unemployment and the economy of the United Kingdom The global financial crisis of 2008 left many nations with high inflation and increasing unemployment rates. The United Kingdom, however, has attempted and successfully lowered the unemployment rate since 2009. The UK is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations, the Council of Europe, the G7, the G8, the G20, NATO, and World Trade Organization. It is therefore one of the biggest and most important economic powers in the world. It consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and in 2014, the UK population amounted to over 64 million people. The same year, it reported the sixth largest gross domestic product in the world, reaching more than 2.8 billion U.S. dollars - and with a prospering economy, its GDP is on the upswing: It is estimated that the GDP in the United Kingdom will grow by approximately 3 percent in 2015 in comparison to the previous year. Regarding unemployment, the UK has never been "typically European". Europe's unemployment rate has been relatively high in comparison to other world regions; the unemployment rate in developed countries and the European Union in 2014 was around 7.8 percent. Meanwhile, the global unemployment rate in 2014 was an estimated 5.9 percent. Despite reporting the third highest unemployment rate in major industrial and emerging countries, behind France and India, the unemployment rate in the United Kingdom is much lower than the European Union rate.

In the third quarter of 2025, the unemployment rate in the United Kingdom was highest in Wales, where it was 5.7 percent, followed by England at 5.1 percent, Scotland at 3.7 percent, and 2.4 percent in Northern Ireland, the lowest rate among the four countries of the UK. For all four countries, the peak in unemployment during this period was in the early 2010s. England and Scotland's unemployment rates were highest in Q4 2011 at 8.4 percent and 8.6 percent respectively, with unemployment reaching 9.7 percent in Wales during Q3 2011. Northern Ireland reported its highest unemployment rate in Q1 of 2013 when it reached eight percent. Unemployment ticking up as UK enters 2025 For the United Kingdom as a whole, the unemployment rate was 4.4 percent in November 2024, the joint-highest rate recorded since August 2021. After reaching 8.5 percent in late 2011, unemployment in the UK fell quite consistently for several years, with this recovery interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, which saw unemployment rise to 5.3 percent in late 2020 and early 2021. From this point onwards, however, the labor market bounced back, and was particular strong in 2022 when there were a record number of job vacancies and unemployment fell to as low as 3.6 percent. While the labor market cooled throughout 2023 and 2024, unemployment remained at historically low levels. Overall economy grows but GDP per head falls Throughout the whole of 2024, gross domestic product in the UK grew by 0.9 percent, but in the third quarter of the year, there was no economic growth, followed by the relatively weak growth rate of 0.1 percent in the fourth quarter. Furthermore, GDP per head in the UK, declined for a second-consecutive year, and was just 36,977 pounds in 2024, compared with 37,371 pounds in 2022. Inflation, meanwhile, has fallen from the peak of 11.1 percent in October 2022, but was still at the relatively high rate of 4 percent at the start of 2024, with this falling to 2.5 percent by the end of the year.

View monthly updates and historical trends for UK Unemployment Rate. from United Kingdom. Source: Office for National Statistics. Track economic data with…

There were over 1.79 million unemployed people in the United Kingdom in the three months to September 2025, compared with just over 1.74 million in the previous month. In the provided time period, there was a peak of 2.7 million people unemployed in November 2011 and a noticeable uptick in unemployment in 2020. The bump in unemployment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic peaked at almost 1.8 million in December 2020 then falling to a low of 1.2 million in August 2022, before climbing up again to the most recent levels. Government plans to boost UK workforce Although the Labour Party inherited a relatively healthy unemployment rate of around four percent from the previous government, the UK's labor market is less robust than it first appears. The current level of economic inactivity, is seen as the more concerning figure, especially the rising share of people on long-term sick leave. Just before the COVID-19 pandemic, at the end of 2019, there were around 2.08 million people economically inactive due to long-term sickness, with this figure increasing by around 740,000 by early 2024. Government plans to address the root cause of these issues and improve incentives to work were unveiled at the end of 2024, but may have come at an inopportune time. Labor market signals for 2025 Encouraging people back into work is one thing; making sure there are enough jobs is another. Recent data suggests that the UK is continuing to cool off from an overheated labor market in 2022, which at one point saw 1.3 million job vacancies in the UK. Although the current level of job vacancies is at more usual levels, any further falls could spell trouble for the economy. In December 2024, the number of people on UK payrolls fell by 47,000, while the number of redundancies has started to climb. Some UK businesses have also signalled that they have, or plan to, lay off staff due to increased taxes set to come into force in the next financial year.

Unemployment by age and duration (seasonally adjusted). These estimates are sourced from the Labour Force Survey, a survey of households. These are official statistics in development.

Long Term Unemployment Rate in the United Kingdom increased to 1 percent in the third quarter of 2020 from 0.90 percent in the first quarter of 2020. This dataset provides - United Kingdom Long Term Unemployment Rate - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

In 2025, the annual unemployment rate of the United Kingdom is expected to be *** percent, compared with *** percent in 2024. Unemployment is forecast to fall to *** percent in 2026, gradually declining to *** percent by 2028. In the UK's last government budget in October 2024, the country's unemployment rate for 2025 was forecast to average out at *** percent, but this was increased to *** percent in the "Spring Statement" on public finances in March 2025. Uptick in unemployment after falling to historic lows A common indicator of an economy’s relative health, the unemployment rate in the UK generally fell throughout most of the 2010s, after reaching *** percent in late 2011. After a sudden increase in unemployment during the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a steep decline that lasted until August 2022, when the unemployment rate was just *** percent. There was then a rise in unemployment from 2023 onwards, which continued throughout 2024 and into 2025. This has been matched by a fall in UK job vacancies, which peaked at *** million in May 2022, but has been falling in most months since then, with approximately ******* vacancies in February 2025. Revisions to GDP and inflation for 2025 Since the global financial crisis of the late 2000s, and especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, the UK's economic growth has been poor, with the UK alternating between weak growth and slight contractions. For 2025, the UK economy is set to grow by just *** percent, a downgrade from *** percent predicted in late 2024. Inflation, which skyrocketed from late 2021 onwards, reached a peak of **** percent in October 2022, and although down to more usual levels by 2024, is expected to rise in 2025, reaching around *** percent by the second half of the year.

In the third quarter of 2025 the unemployment rate for men in the United Kingdom was 5.4 percent, while for women it was 4.5 percent. The male unemployment rates seen in late 2020 were the highest since 2015, while the rates for women reached heights last seen in 2016. During the provided time period, the unemployment rate for men peaked in Q1 1993 at 12.7 percent, while for women the unemployment rate was highest in Q2 1984 when it was 11.8 percent. Unemployment uptick to continue? The overall unemployment rate for the UK was 4.4 percent in November 2024, which was quite low but, slightly above the record low rates seen in 2022. During that year, there was also a peak in the number of job vacancies in the UK, which reached 1.3 million in May 2022. Since that point, however, the number of vacancies has been falling, and was at its lowest level since May 2021 in January 2024, at 812,000. Current forecasts for unemployment anticipate an annual rate of 4.1 percent for 2025, although this may be revised upwards in the future. Youth unemployment in the UK The unemployment rate for people in the United Kingdom is heavily associated with age. For people aged between 16 and 24 years, for example, the unemployment rate was 14.8 percent in the third quarter of 2024, compared with just 2.3 percent for those aged between 35 and 49. As with the overall unemployment rate, young men had a higher unemployment rate at 17.7 percent, compared with 11.9 percent for young women in the third quarter of 2024.

European Union Unemployment Rate: sa: EU 27 excl UK: Female data was reported at 7.000 % in Mar 2020. This records an increase from the previous number of 6.700 % for Feb 2020. European Union Unemployment Rate: sa: EU 27 excl UK: Female data is updated monthly, averaging 10.100 % from Jan 2000 (Median) to Mar 2020, with 243 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 11.700 % in Apr 2013 and a record low of 6.700 % in Feb 2020. European Union Unemployment Rate: sa: EU 27 excl UK: Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Eurostat. The data is categorized under Global Database’s European Union – Table EU.G011: Eurostat: Unemployment Rate: Seasonally Adjusted.

European Union Unemployment Rate: sa: EU 27 excl UK: Male data was reported at 6.300 % in Mar 2020. This records an increase from the previous number of 6.200 % for Feb 2020. European Union Unemployment Rate: sa: EU 27 excl UK: Male data is updated monthly, averaging 8.800 % from Jan 2000 (Median) to Mar 2020, with 243 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 11.400 % in Jun 2013 and a record low of 6.200 % in Feb 2020. European Union Unemployment Rate: sa: EU 27 excl UK: Male data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Eurostat. The data is categorized under Global Database’s European Union – Table EU.G011: Eurostat: Unemployment Rate: Seasonally Adjusted.

European Union Unemployment Rate: sa: EU 27 excl UK: Age 25 to 74 data was reported at 5.800 % in Mar 2020. This records an increase from the previous number of 5.700 % for Feb 2020. European Union Unemployment Rate: sa: EU 27 excl UK: Age 25 to 74 data is updated monthly, averaging 8.300 % from Jan 2000 (Median) to Mar 2020, with 243 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 10.200 % in May 2013 and a record low of 5.700 % in Feb 2020. European Union Unemployment Rate: sa: EU 27 excl UK: Age 25 to 74 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Eurostat. The data is categorized under Global Database’s European Union – Table EU.G011: Eurostat: Unemployment Rate: Seasonally Adjusted.

This dataset contains series for the Claimant Count (which measures the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits) and vacancies.

The number of people unemployed in the United Kingdom was **** million in the fourth quarter of 2024, falling from a recent peak of **** million in the fourth quarter of 2020. Unemployment is expected to reach around **** million in the first half of 2025, before gradually falling to **** million by 2027.

Unemployment Rate in France increased to 7.70 percent in the third quarter of 2025 from 7.60 percent in the second quarter of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - France Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

Employment Rate in the United Kingdom decreased to 75 percent in September from 75.10 percent in August of 2025. This dataset provides - United Kingdom Employment Rate- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

European Union Unemployment Rate: EU 27 excl UK data was reported at 6.700 % in Mar 2020. This records a decrease from the previous number of 6.800 % for Feb 2020. European Union Unemployment Rate: EU 27 excl UK data is updated monthly, averaging 9.500 % from Jan 2000 (Median) to Mar 2020, with 243 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 12.100 % in Feb 2013 and a record low of 6.400 % in Aug 2019. European Union Unemployment Rate: EU 27 excl UK data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Eurostat. The data is categorized under Global Database’s European Union – Table EU.G010: Eurostat: Unemployment Rate.

Graph and download economic data for Unemployment Rate: Aged 15-74: Females for the United Kingdom (LRUN74FEGBQ156S) from Q2 1999 to Q3 2020 about 15 to 74 years, females, United Kingdom, unemployment, and rate.

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.