UK unemployment rate rises to 5% as jobs market weakens
The unemployment rate in the UK rose to 5% in the three months to September, according to new official figures, indicating that the job market is weakening.
This is the highest rate since the period between December 2020 and February 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The increase in the unemployment rate was higher than expected, above the 4.9% that many analysts had predicted ahead of the 26 November Budget.
Average wage growth was 4.6% in the third quarter; It was at 4.7% in the three months until August.
Liz McKeown, ONS director of economic statistics, said: “Taken together, these figures point to a weakening labor market.
“Meanwhile, the unemployment rate rose to the highest level after the pandemic in the last quarter. However, the number of open job positions generally did not change.”
The number of employees on payroll in the three months to September 2025 also fell by 109,000 (0.4%), a year on year.
ONS data also shows around 1.7 million people are claiming unemployment benefits; This figure is a slight decrease from a year ago.
Responding to the latest statistics, Work and Pensions Minister Pat McFadden said: “More than 329,000 people have already gone into work this year, but today’s figures are exactly why we are accelerating our plan to get Britain back to work.”
Overall, the number of job openings remained unchanged; Between August and October 2025, there were approximately 723,000.
The ONS said the unemployment rate needed to be treated with caution and was taking further steps to address concerns about the quality of the data.
