Unemployment – National: Key Economic Indicators

Data on unemployment in the UK.

There were 1.35 million unemployed people in the UK in March-May 2020, 17,000 fewer than the previous quarter but up by 55,000 from the year before.

The unemployment rate was 3.9% (the percentage of the economically active population who are unemployed). This is unchanged since the previous quarter and up slightly from 3.8% the previous year. The rate reached a post-recession high of 8.5% in late 2011.

Young people

540,000 young people aged 16-24 were unemployed, up 26,000 from the previous quarter and up 47,000 from the year before. The unemployment rate for 16‑24 year olds was 12.5%, up from 11.6% a year before.

Long-term unemployment

246,000 people had been unemployed for over 12 months, 61,000 less than the previous quarter and 93,000 less than a year ago.

Men and women

724,000 men were unemployed, down 39,000 from the previous quarter and up 12,000 from the year before.

623,000 women were unemployed, up 22,000 from the previous quarter and up 43,000 from a year ago.

The unemployment rate for men was 4.0% and the unemployment rate was 3.8% for women.