The number of payrolled employees has continued to drop in the UK, new data published on Tuesday (14 October) shows.
The unemployment rate climbed to 4.8% in the three months to August, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which was the highest since the March-May period in 2021. The revised estimate of payrolled workers in August 2025 shows an increase of 10,000 from July, though provisional estimates show a decrease of 10,000 for September.
In the three months to September 2025, vacancies in the UK fell by 9,000 (1.3%) to 717,000. This is the 39th consecutive period where vacancy numbers have dropped compared with the previous three months.
Average weekly earnings in the three months to August 2025 were up 4.7% on the year, excluding bonuses, down slightly from 4.8% last month. Including bonuses, the rate was 5%, up from last month’s figure of 4.8%.
“After a long period of weak hiring activity, there are signs that the falls we have seen in both payroll numbers and vacancies are now levelling off,” said ONS Director of Economic Statistics Liz McKeown.
“We see different patterns across the age range, with record numbers of over-65s in work, while the increase in unemployment was driven mostly by young people.”
McKeown noted that wage growth has slowed in the private sector to its lowest rate in nearly four years, but public sector pay growth increased, reflecting some public sector pay rises being awarded earlier than they were last year.
“Meanwhile, August had the fewest working days lost to strike action in a single month for nearly six years,” she said.
The latest data will be difficult reading for Chancellor Rachel Reeves, who faces several major challenges ahead of next month’s budget. Chief amongst these is balancing a stalling economy with what appears to be a widening shortfall.
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