Unemployment rose to 5.2% in the last three months of 2025, its highest since 2015 outside the pandemic
Unemployed people as a share of everyone in work or looking for work, aged 16 and over, UK, rolling three months, 1971 to 2026. Per cent.
It was 4.9% in May to July 2026, the latest figures
Latest figures
| Series | Period | Value |
|---|---|---|
| Unemployment rate | May to July 2026 | 4.9% |
Notes
- People are unemployed if they are out of work, have looked for work in the last four weeks and can start within two weeks. The rate is their share of the economically active: those in work plus those unemployed. People not looking for work, such as students, carers or the long-term sick, are counted in neither.
- Figures come from the Labour Force Survey and cover three months, seasonally adjusted. The survey's response rate has fallen since 2020, so recent figures are less certain than earlier ones.
Sources
More on economy
- The UK economy was 1.4% larger in April to June 2026 than a year earlier
- GDP per person was £42,493 in the year to June 2026, in 2024 prices
- Real household disposable income was £26,154 per person in the year to June 2026, in 2024 prices
- Consumer prices rose 3.1% in the year to August 2026
- 75.1% of people aged 16 to 64 were in work in May to July 2026
- 6.4% of people aged 16 to 64 in the UK were economically inactive because of long-term sickness in May to July 2026: 2.78 million people
- 13.0% of people aged 16 to 24 in the UK were not in education, employment or training in April to June 2026: 981,000 young people
- Average weekly pay after inflation was 0.9% higher in May to July 2026 than a year earlier
- There were 702,000 job vacancies in the UK in June to August 2026