UK labour market statistics

Most labour market statistics in the UK come from the Labour Force Survey, conducted by the Office for National Statistics.

Unemployment has fallen since the end of 2025, although there was still an increase in unemployment in March to May 2026 compared to a year previously. Economic inactivity has been increasing since the end of 2025 and increased in the year to March to May 2026. Year-on-year growth in average pay has continued to slow for pay excluding bonuses, but earnings including bonuses have grown faster due to higher bonus payments this year.

Key figures

• In March to May 2026, the number of people aged 16+ in employment was 34.48 million. The employment rate for people aged 16 to 64 was 75.1%, slightly down from 75.2% a year earlier.
• Labour Force Survey (LFS) data is less reliable than usual at the moment, partly due to a data collection mistake in May and June, and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has said that the estimates from this survey should be considered alongside other labour market sources, such as the workforce jobs series or the estimates for payrolled employees using PAYE data.
• Although LFS data suggests that there has been an increase in employment of 340,000 over the year to March to May 2026, this is in contrast to estimates from the other labour market sources:
  • The PAYE data shows a fall of 89,000 payrolled employees in the year to March to May 2026
  • The workforce jobs data, which is published every quarter, shows a fall of 97,000 jobs in the year to March 2026
• LFS data suggests there has been an increase in employment over the quarter to March to May 2026, while there was a fall of 30,000 in the number of payrolled employees in this period.
• The UK unemployment rate was 4.9%, and 1.76 million people aged 16+ were unemployed. Unemployment levels increased by 81,000 over the last year, and the unemployment rate has increased from 4.7%.
• 9.11 million people aged 16 to 64 were economically inactive, and the inactivity rate was 20.9%. Inactivity levels have increased by 25,000 in the last year.
• Vacancies fell over the year to 712,000 in April to June 2026, which is below pre-pandemic levels.
• Average wages increased in real (inflation-adjusted) terms in the three months to May 2026, with an annual increase of 1.3% including bonuses and 0.4% excluding bonuses. Wages in cash terms rose at a rate of 4.3% including bonuses and 3.4% excluding bonuses.

The chart below summarises labour market trends since 2011.

Reliability of Labour Force Survey data

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) produces labour market statistics using the Labour Force Survey (LFS). In recent years, fewer people have been responding to the LFS, which the ONS has identified as a challenge to data reliability. The number of responses fell to its lowest point in July to September 2023, and as a result, detailed LFS estimates were not published between October 2023 and January 2024 because of quality concerns.

Although the ONS started publishing LFS data again in February 2024, these figures were rebadged as ‘official statistics in development’, instead of ‘official statistics’. The number of responses has increased steadily since the low point in July to September 2023. In July 2026, the ONS said that the higher response rate “helps to increase the precision in our estimates” but “caution is still advised when assessing change over time periods” and “when analysing more detailed estimates”.

The ONS has been working on a Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS), which will eventually replace the Labour Force Survey. This will be an online-first survey which will enable a larger sample size than the LFS and therefore should improve the quality of the survey estimates.

In April 2026, the ONS said that the earliest transition of the published headline labour market statistics to the TLFS will be in 2027. Until this transition, the ONS will continue to use the LFS. The ONS had previously said that the transition may have been possible in November 2026, following a ‘readiness assessment’ in July 2026. In the April 2026 update, the ONS said that it will not have all the data it needs for the assessment in July, and therefore “further data collection and assessment will be needed”.

The ONS had originally intended to incorporate TLFS data into the regular labour market data from autumn 2023.

Most of the statistics that are included in this briefing are taken from the LFS, and these statistics should be treated with more caution than usual. Section 5 provides further information. Some of the statistics in this briefing, such as vacancies and earnings, are taken from other surveys.