Unemployment Rate in the United Kingdom remained unchanged at 4.70 percent in July. 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.

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.

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 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. 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. The International Labour Organization defines 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. Useful links Click here for Regional labour market statistics from the Office for National Statistics. Click here for Labour market statistics from the Office for National Statistics. See here for GLA Economics' Labour Market Analysis. See here for Economic Inactivity statistics. See here for Employment rates. This dataset is one of the Greater London Authority's measures of Economic Fairness. Click here to find out more.

Economic activity rates, employment rates and unemployment rates broken down by ethnic group. The economically active population comprises those who are either employed or unemployed and excludes those who are economically inactive. The data are taken from the Annual Population Survey (APS), produced by the Office for National Statistics.

The unemployment rate of the United Kingdom was 4.7 percent in July 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.

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

Youth Unemployment Rate in the United Kingdom decreased to 11.60 percent in July from 12 percent in June 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.

Model-based Unemployment Estimates; statistically modelled data, which show the number who are unemployed and the unemployment rate as a percentage of the economically active population. Source: Office for National Statistics (ONS) Publisher: Neighbourhood Statistics Geographies: Local Authority District (LAD), Government Office Region (GOR), National Geographic coverage: England and Wales Time coverage: April 2005 - March 2006 to April 2006 - March 2007 Type of data: Modelled data

Employment Rate in the United Kingdom decreased to 75.20 percent in July from 75.30 percent in June of 2025. This dataset provides - United Kingdom Employment Rate- actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

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.

York’s unemployment rate below the national (%pt) - (Snapshot)

This Data has been sourced from LG Inform Plus and shows the percentage in terms of age for unemployment in Plymouth.

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.

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 Labour Market Indicators spreadsheet for boroughs and regions will no longer be updated from March 2015. The final version from March 2015 will still be available to download at the bottom of this page. Most of the data is available within datasets elsewhere on the Datastore.

Workforce Jobs
Unemployment
Model based Unemployment for Boroughs
Claimant Count rates for Boroughs and Wards
Employment Rate Trends
Employment rates by Gender, Age and Disability
Number of Self Employed, Full and Part Time Employed
Employment by Occupation
Employment by Industry
Employment, Unemployment, Economic Activity and Inactivity Rates by Disability
Employment by Ethnicity
Economic Inactivity by Gender and Reason
Qualifications of Economically Active, Employed and Unemployed
Qualification levels of working-age population
Apprenticeship Starts and Achievements
Young People Not in Employment, Education or Training (NEET), Borough
19 year olds Qualified to NVQ Level 3
GCE A level examination results of 16-18 year olds
GCSE Results by Pupil Characteristics
People Claiming Out-of-Work Benefits
People Claiming Incapacity Benefit
Children Living in Workless Households
Gross Value Added, and Gross Disposable Household Income
Earnings by place of residence
Earnings by place of work
Business Demographics
Employment projections by sector
Jobs Density
Population Estimates
Population Migration

Core Indicators

Number of London residents of working age in employment
Employment rate
Number of male London residents of working age in employment
Male employment rate
Number of female London residents of working age in employment
Female employment rate
Workforce jobs
Jobs density
Number of London residents of working age who are economically inactive
Economic inactivity rate
Number of London residents aged 16+ who are unemployed (model based)
Proportion of London residents aged 16+ who are unemployed (model based)
Claimant unemployment
Claimant Count as a proportion of the working age population
Incidence of skill gaps (Numbers and rates)
GCSE (5+ A*–C) attainment including English and Maths
Number of working age people in London with no qualifications
Proportion of working age people in London with no qualifications
Number of working age people in London with Level 4+ qualifications
Proportion of working age people in London with Level 4+ qualifications
Number of people of working age claiming out of work benefits
Proportion of the working age population who claim out of work benefits
Number of young people aged 16-18 who are not in

Background
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is a unique source of information using international definitions of employment and unemployment and economic inactivity, together with a wide range of related topics such as occupation, training, hours of work and personal characteristics of household members aged 16 years and over. It is used to inform social, economic and employment policy. The LFS was first conducted biennially from 1973-1983. Between 1984 and 1991 the survey was carried out annually and consisted of a quarterly survey conducted throughout the year and a 'boost' survey in the spring quarter (data were then collected seasonally). From 1992 quarterly data were made available, with a quarterly sample size approximately equivalent to that of the previous annual data. The survey then became known as the Quarterly Labour Force Survey (QLFS). From December 1994, data gathering for Northern Ireland moved to a full quarterly cycle to match the rest of the country, so the QLFS then covered the whole of the UK (though some additional annual Northern Ireland LFS datasets are also held at the UK Data Archive). Further information on the background to the QLFS may be found in the documentation.

Longitudinal data
The LFS retains each sample household for five consecutive quarters, with a fifth of the sample replaced each quarter. The main survey was designed to produce cross-sectional data, but the data on each individual have now been linked together to provide longitudinal information. The longitudinal data comprise two types of linked datasets, created using the weighting method to adjust for non-response bias. The two-quarter datasets link data from two consecutive waves, while the five-quarter datasets link across a whole year (for example January 2010 to March 2011 inclusive) and contain data from all five waves. A full series of longitudinal data has been produced, going back to winter 1992. Linking together records to create a longitudinal dimension can, for example, provide information on gross flows over time between different labour force categories (employed, unemployed and economically inactive). This will provide detail about people who have moved between the categories. Also, longitudinal information is useful in monitoring the effects of government policies and can be used to follow the subsequent activities and circumstances of people affected by specific policy initiatives, and to compare them with other groups in the population. There are however methodological problems which could distort the data resulting from this longitudinal linking. The ONS continues to research these issues and advises that the presentation of results should be carefully considered, and warnings should be included with outputs where necessary.

New reweighting policy
Following the new reweighting policy ONS has reviewed the latest population estimates made available during 2019 and have decided not to carry out a 2019 LFS and APS reweighting exercise. Therefore, the next reweighting exercise will take place in 2020. These will incorporate the 2019 Sub-National Population Projection data (published in May 2020) and 2019 Mid-Year Estimates (published in June 2020). It is expected that reweighted Labour Market aggregates and microdata will be published towards the end of 2020/early 2021.

LFS Documentation
The documentation available from the Archive to accompany LFS datasets largely consists of the latest version of each user guide volume alongside the appropriate questionnaire for the year concerned. However, volumes are updated periodically by ONS, so users are advised to check the latest documents on the ONS Labour Force Survey - User Guidance pages before commencing analysis. This is especially important for users of older QLFS studies, where information and guidance in the user guide documents may have changed over time.

Additional data derived from the QLFS
The Archive also holds further QLFS series: End User Licence (EUL) quarterly data; Secure Access datasets; household datasets; quarterly, annual and ad hoc module datasets compiled for Eurostat; and some additional annual Northern Ireland datasets.

Variables DISEA and LNGLST
Dataset A08 (Labour market status of disabled people) which ONS suspended due to an apparent discontinuity between April to June 2017 and July to September 2017 is now available. As a result of this apparent discontinuity and the inconclusive investigations at this stage, comparisons should be made with caution between April to June 2017 and subsequent time periods. However users should note that the estimates are not seasonally adjusted, so some of the change between quarters could be due to seasonality. Further recommendations on historical comparisons of the estimates will be given in November 2018 when ONS are due to publish estimates for July to September 2018.

An article explaining the quality assurance investigations that have been conducted so far is available on the ONS Methodology webpage. For any queries about Dataset A08 please email Labour.Market@ons.gov.uk.

Occupation data for 2021 and 2022 data files

The ONS has identified an issue with the collection of some occupational data in 2021 and 2022 data files in a number of their surveys. While they estimate any impacts will be small overall, this will affect the accuracy of the breakdowns of some detailed (four-digit Standard Occupational Classification (SOC)) occupations, and data derived from them. Further information can be found in the ONS article published on 11 July 2023: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/articles/revisionofmiscodedoccupationaldataintheonslabourforcesurveyuk/january2021toseptember2022" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Revision of miscoded occupational data in the ONS Labour Force Survey, UK: January 2021 to September 2022.

2022 Weighting

The population totals used for the latest LFS estimates use projected growth rates from Real Time Information (RTI) data for UK, EU and non-EU populations based on 2021 patterns. The total population used for the LFS therefore does not take into account any changes in migration, birth rates, death rates, and so on since June 2021, and hence levels estimates may be under- or over-estimating the true values and should be used with caution. Estimates of rates will, however, be robust.

Latest edition information

For the second edition (February 2025), the data file was resupplied with the 2024 weighting variable included (LGWT24).

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

Historical dataset showing U.K. youth unemployment rate by year from 1991 to 2024.

This dataset uses ONS Claimant Count estimates to monitor unemployment in Leicester. Claimant data by age and sex are presented here for Leicester and England to allow for comparison.Claimant Count is the number of people claiming Universal Credit or Jobseekers' Allowance principally for the reason of being unemployed.Claimant Count is a useful proxy for unemployment because it is the most comprehensive unemployment-related dataset published at geographies smaller than the local authority level. While there is significant overlap, it is not the same as the national measure for unemployment, which is based on estimates from the Labour Force Survey and Annual Population Survey.Claimant Count is best used for understanding short term changes in the labour market and the relative position of small areas.Rates are calculated using ONS mid-year or census based population estimates for the 16-64 year old population as a denominator.The ONS does not publish claimant count rate estimates for the age bands presented here, so these are not official estimates and should be treated with caution.A dashboard has also been produced summarising this data into a single page. Click here to view: DashboardFurther information: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/methodologies/aguidetolabourmarketstatistics#introduction