Unemployment Rate in the United Kingdom increased to 4.50 percent in March from 4.40 percent in February 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 unemployment rate of the United Kingdom was 4.5 percent in March 2025, an increase 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.

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.

As of the first quarter of 2025, there were approximately 863,000 unemployed men in the United Kingdom and 751,000 unemployed women, compared with the previous quarter when there were 840,000 unemployed men and 712,000 unemployed women.

Unemployment by previous industrial sector. These estimates are sourced from the Labour Force Survey, a survey of households. These are official statistics in development.

The youth unemployment rate for those aged between 16 and 24 in the United Kingdom was 14.2 percent in March 2025, compared with 14.6 percent in the previous month. After falling to just 9.2 percent in July 2022, the youth unemployment rate has increased at pace and is almost as high as it was following the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Nevertheless, youth unemployment is lower than in the early 2010s, when youth unemployment reached a high of 22.5 percent in November 2011. Almost one million UK youth not in work or education In the fourth quarter of 2024, the number of people aged between 16 and 24 that were not in education, employment, or training (NEET) was 987,000, the highest figure in more than ten years. One of the main reasons for this increase has been the general rise in people being on long-term sick leave since the COVID-19 pandemic, which reached a peak of 2.8 million at the end of 2023. While older adults are still more likely to be on long-term sick, the number of younger workers on long-term sickness has increased more rapidly. In the ten years between 2014 and 2024, the number of 16 to 24-year-olds economically inactive for this reason increased from 138,000 to 271,000. Prospects for youth employment in 2025 Reversing the current trend of increasing youth inactivity is one of the main challenges facing the UK economy in 2025. It is currently unclear if the labor market is equipped to handle this issue, however. Job vacancies, while not at a particularly low level, have been falling for several months since peaking in 2022. UK businesses are also under pressure from an increase in the national insurance they must pay from April 2025 onwards, with taxation being the main external concern of UK businesses at the end of 2024. In this environment, it is uncertain if they will hire more staff, especially younger workers who have spent extended periods of time out of work.

U.K. unemployment rate for 2023 was 4.06%, a 0.33% increase from 2022.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>U.K. unemployment rate for 2022 was <strong>3.73%</strong>, a <strong>1.1% decline</strong> from 2021.</li>
<li>U.K. unemployment rate for 2021 was <strong>4.83%</strong>, a <strong>0.35% increase</strong> from 2020.</li>
<li>U.K. unemployment rate for 2020 was <strong>4.47%</strong>, a <strong>0.74% increase</strong> from 2019.</li>
</ul>Unemployment refers to the share of the labor force that is without work but available for and seeking employment.

Youth Unemployment Rate in the United Kingdom decreased to 12.80 percent in March from 13.30 percent in February of 2025. This dataset provides the latest reported value for - United Kingdom Youth Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news.

In the first quarter of 2025, the unemployment rate in the United Kingdom was highest in Wales, where it was 5.2 percent, followed by England at 4.4 percent, Scotland at 4.3 percent, and 1.6 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.

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

At most qualification levels, white people aged 16 to 64 were the least likely to be unemployed out of all ethnic groups in 2022.

The United Kingdom: Unemployment rate forecast: The latest value from 2028 is 4 percent, unchanged from 4 percent in 2027. In comparison, the world average is 6.50 percent, based on data from 99 countries. Historically, the average for the United Kingdom from 1980 to 2028 is 6.82 percent. The minimum value, 3.88 percent, was reached in 2022 while the maximum of 11.75 percent was recorded in 1984.

United Kingdom UK: Unemployment Rate data was reported at 4.144 % in Mar 2018. This records a decrease from the previous number of 4.241 % for Dec 2017. United Kingdom UK: Unemployment Rate data is updated quarterly, averaging 4.527 % from Mar 1957 (Median) to Mar 2018, with 245 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 12.033 % in Dec 1982 and a record low of 1.200 % in Jun 1966. United Kingdom UK: Unemployment Rate data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by International Monetary Fund. The data is categorized under Global Database’s United Kingdom – Table UK.IMF.IFS: Labour Force, Employment and Unemployment: Quarterly.

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.

Key information about UK Unemployment Rate

• UK Unemployment Rate dropped to 3.93% in Oct 2023, from the previously reported figure of 3.95% in Sep 2023.
• UK Unemployment Rate is updated monthly, available from Aug 2022 to Oct 2023, with an average rate of 3.93%.
• The data reached an all-time high of 4.33% in Jun 2023 and a record low of 3.75% in Aug 2022.
• The data is reported by reported by Office for National Statistics.
• In the latest reports, UK Population reached 67.03 million people in Dec 2021.

London had the highest unemployment rate among regions of the United Kingdom in the first quarter of 2025 at ****percent, while for the UK as a whole, the unemployment rate was ****percent. Three other regions also had an unemployment rate higher than the national average, while Northern Ireland had the lowest unemployment rate in this time period, at ****percent. Labor market recovery after COVID-19 After reaching historically low levels of unemployment in 2019, there was a noticeable spike in the UK unemployment rate in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. After peaking at ****percent in late 2020, the unemployment rate declined throughout 2021 and 2022. High levels of job vacancies, resignations, and staff shortages in 2022, were all indicative of a very tight labor market that year, but all these measures have started to point in the direction of a slightly looser labor market. UK's regional economic divide While the North of England has some of the country’s largest cities, the sheer size and economic power of London is much larger than the UK's other urban agglomerations. Partly, due to the size of London, the United Kingdom is one of Europe’s most centralized counties, and there is a clear divide between the economic prospects of north and south England. In 2022, for example, the gross domestic product per head in London was ****** British pounds, far higher than the UK average of *******pounds, and significantly larger than North East England, the region with the lowest GDP per head at *******pounds.

Unemployment numbers and rates for those aged 16 or over. The unemployed population consists of those people out of work, who are actively looking for work and are available to start immediately.

Unemployed numbers and rates also shown for equalities groups, by age, sex, ethnic group, and disability. Economic inactivity rates and numbers for regions.

The data are taken from the Labour Force Survey and Annual Population Survey, produced by the Office for National Statistics.

The data are produced monthly on a rolling quarterly basis. The month shown is the month the quarter ends on.

International Labour Organization define unemployed people as: without a job, want a job, have actively sought work in the last 4 weeks and are available to start work in the next 2 weeks, or, out of work, have found a job and are waiting to start it in the next 2 weeks.

The figures in this dataset are adjusted to compensate for seasonal variations in employment (Seasonally adjusted).

Data by equalities groups has a longer time lag and is only available quarterly from the Annual Population Survey, which is not seasonally adjusted.

Click http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/subnational-labour/regional-labour-market-statistics/index.html">here for Regional labour market statistics from the Office for National Statistics

Click http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lms/labour-market-statistics/index.html">here for Labour market statistics from the Office for National Statistics

U.K. youth unemployment rate for 2024 was 12.44%, a 0.62% increase from 2023.

<ul style='margin-top:20px;'>

<li>U.K. youth unemployment rate for 2023 was <strong>11.83%</strong>, a <strong>1.38% increase</strong> from 2022.</li>
<li>U.K. youth unemployment rate for 2022 was <strong>10.45%</strong>, a <strong>2.26% decline</strong> from 2021.</li>
<li>U.K. youth unemployment rate for 2021 was <strong>12.72%</strong>, a <strong>0.66% decline</strong> from 2020.</li>
</ul>Youth unemployment refers to the share of the labor force ages 15-24 without work but available for and seeking employment.

Graph and download economic data for Infra-Annual Labor Statistics: Monthly Unemployment Rate Total: 15 Years or over for United Kingdom (LRHUTTTTGBM156N) from Jan 1983 to Feb 2025 about harmonized, United Kingdom, unemployment, persons, and rate.

EU UK: Unemployment Rate: sa: Female: Age 25 to 74 data was reported at 3.100 % in Apr 2018. This stayed constant from the previous number of 3.100 % for Mar 2018. EU UK: Unemployment Rate: sa: Female: Age 25 to 74 data is updated monthly, averaging 4.900 % from Jan 1983 (Median) to Apr 2018, with 424 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 9.000 % in Jan 1987 and a record low of 2.800 % in Jul 2005. EU UK: Unemployment Rate: sa: Female: Age 25 to 74 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Eurostat. The data is categorized under Global Database’s UK – Table UK.Eurostat: Unemployment Rate: Seasonally Adjusted.