UK labor market sees flat trend, employment rate rises

Unemployment rate at 4.7% for June-August period, marking a 0.1 percentage point decrease

The UK labor market showed a broadly flat trend in 2026, with a slight increase in the employment rate and a small fall in the unemployment rate in the latest quarter. The number of payrolled employees fell between August 2025 and August 2026, while early estimates for September showed little change over the month, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) stated on Tuesday. The unemployment rate for people aged 16 and over stood at 4.7% for the June to August period, marking a 0.1 percentage point decrease both annually and quarterly. The UK employment rate for individuals reached 75.3% during the same period, reflecting a 0.2 percentage point increase both annually and quarterly. The economic inactivity rate for people aged 16 to 64 hit 20.9%, down 0.2 percentage points on the year and 0.1 percentage points in the latest quarter. The number of vacancies experienced its largest fall since the beginning of the year, primarily due to smaller firms citing increased labor costs. Regular wage growth remained relatively stable, but total pay reached its lowest level in nearly six years. Estimates indicated that the number of payrolled employees in the UK decreased by 111,000 between August 2025 and August 2026. Early estimates for September showed that the number of payrolled employees reached 30.3 million.