UK Unemployment Jumps as Payrolled Employees Drop by 121,000

The UK's payrolled employees saw a decline of 121,000 (0.4%) between December 2024 and December 2025, with a slight drop of 6,000 between November 2025 and December 2025. For October to December 2025, the number of payrolled employees fell by 130,000 (0.4%) over the year and by 46,000 (0.2%) over the quarter. The unemployment rate was up 5.2%, while the economic inactivity rate was 20.8%. The early estimate of payrolled employees for January 2026 decreased by 134,000 (0.4%) on the year, and by 11,000 (0.0%) on the month, to 30.3 million. The UK employment rate was estimated at 75.0% in October to December 2025, down in the latest quarter. Claimant Count for January 2026 increased 1.691 million on the month, vacancies rose by 0.3% to 726,000 and average earnings increased by 4.2%.