EuroWire, LONDON: Britain’s unemployment rate rose to 5.2% in the three months to December 2025, its highest level since 2015 when excluding the pandemic period, according to official data released on Feb. 17. The Office for National Statistics estimated 1.883 million people aged 16 and over were unemployed in October to December, with the jobless rate up 0.2 percentage points from the previous three-month period.
The ONS data place the latest reading above the levels recorded through most of the past decade, while remaining below the peak reached during the coronavirus pandemic, when unemployment climbed to 5.3% in late 2020. The employment rate for people aged 16 to 64 was estimated at 75.0% in October to December 2025, down 0.1 percentage points on the quarter, extending a gradual easing seen across recent releases.
The economic inactivity rate for people aged 16 to 64 was estimated at 20.8% in the same period, down 0.1 percentage points compared with the prior three months. Economic inactivity measures people not in work who are not actively seeking employment or are not available to start work. The ONS has continued to present unemployment, employment and inactivity together with administrative indicators, as it encourages users to look across multiple measures of labour market conditions.
Pay data released alongside the labour market figures showed annual growth in regular pay, excluding bonuses, of 4.2% in October to December 2025. Regular pay growth in the private sector was 3.4%, while the public sector figure was 7.2%. In level terms, average weekly earnings were estimated at £735 for total pay and £691 for regular pay in December 2025, reflecting pay over that month for employees in Great Britain.
Pay, payrolls and vacancies
Other indicators pointed to limited month-to-month changes in headcount and hiring. The ONS said the number of payrolled employees fell by 6,000 between November and December 2025 and was down by 121,000 compared with December 2024. An early estimate for January 2026 showed payrolled employees down 11,000 on the month to 30.3 million, noting that early estimates are subject to revision as more data become available.
Vacancies, which the ONS uses as an indicator of labour demand, were estimated at 726,000 in the three months from November 2025 to January 2026. That was little changed, up 2,000 compared with the preceding three-month period. The ONS has reported that vacancies have moved lower from the highs recorded after the pandemic, with recent readings indicating a more stable pattern than earlier in the cycle.
Redundancies and benefit claims were also tracked in the release. The ONS estimated the redundancy rate at 4.9 per 1,000 employees, based on people reporting redundancy in the prior three months. The Claimant Count, a separate measure based on the number of people receiving benefits primarily because they are unemployed, stood at 1.691 million in January 2026, rising on the month while remaining below its level a year earlier.
Survey quality and interpretation
The ONS reiterated that its Labour Force Survey estimates can be volatile and said users should consider a range of indicators when assessing the UK labour market, including payrolled employees, vacancies and benefit claims. The agency has been implementing changes to improve the survey following response issues that emerged after the pandemic. The ONS has continued to publish its core series while highlighting that movements over shorter periods should be read alongside broader trends.
Taken together, the latest release shows unemployment rising while headline employment edged lower and inactivity declined slightly, alongside continued growth in earnings and a largely steady vacancies total. The figures cover conditions through the end of 2025 and provide a snapshot of hiring, pay and joblessness across the UK economy, with multiple measures showing shifts that can differ depending on the source and methodology used.