The unemployment rate in the UK increased to 4.9 percent in the three months to October of 2020, compared to 4.8 percent in the previous period and below forecasts of 5.1 percent. It is the highest jobless rate since the three months to August 2016, as the coronavirus continued to hit the labour market. The redundancies reached a record high of 370,000, and the employment rate continued to fall to 75.2 percent. At the same time, total hours worked had a record increase from the low levels in the previous quarter as the number of coronavirus lockdown measures were eased early in August and September. On a positive note, the number of people away from work because of the pandemic and receiving no pay has fallen since its peak in April and May 2020. source: Office for National Statistics

Unemployment Rate in the United Kingdom averaged 6.86 percent from 1971 until 2020, reaching an all time high of 11.90 percent in April of 1984 and a record low of 3.40 percent in December of 1973. This page provides the latest reported value for - United Kingdom Unemployment Rate - plus previous releases, historical high and low, short-term forecast and long-term prediction, economic calendar, survey consensus and news. United Kingdom Unemployment Rate - data, historical chart, forecasts and calendar of releases - was last updated on December of 2020.

Unemployment Rate in the United Kingdom is expected to be 7.50 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate Unemployment Rate in the United Kingdom to stand at 7.90 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the United Kingdom Unemployment Rate is projected to trend around 7.40 percent in 2021 and 5.50 percent in 2022, according to our econometric models.

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United Kingdom Unemployment Rate

Actual Previous Highest Lowest Dates Unit Frequency
4.90 4.80 11.90 3.40 1971 - 2020 percent Monthly


Calendar GMT Actual Previous Consensus TEForecast
2020-09-15 06:00 AM Jul 4.1% 3.9% 4.1% 4.1%
2020-10-13 06:00 AM Aug 4.5% 4.1% 4.3% 4.2%
2020-11-10 07:00 AM Sep 4.8% 4.5% 4.8% 4.9%
2020-12-15 07:00 AM Oct 4.9% 4.8% 5.1% 5.0%
2021-01-26 07:00 AM Nov 4.9% 5.1%
2021-02-23 07:00 AM Dec
2021-03-23 07:00 AM Jan
2021-04-20 06:00 AM Feb
Go to our Calendar for more events. Or learn more about the Calendar API for direct access.


News Stream
UK Jobless Rate Rises Less than Expected
The unemployment rate in the UK increased to 4.9 percent in the three months to October of 2020, compared to 4.8 percent in the previous period and below forecasts of 5.1 percent. It is the highest jobless rate since the three months to August 2016, as the coronavirus continued to hit the labour market. The redundancies reached a record high of 370,000, and the employment rate continued to fall to 75.2 percent. At the same time, total hours worked had a record increase from the low levels in the previous quarter as the number of coronavirus lockdown measures were eased early in August and September. On a positive note, the number of people away from work because of the pandemic and receiving no pay has fallen since its peak in April and May 2020.
2020-12-15
UK Jobless Rate Rises to 4-Year High
The unemployment rate in the UK increased to 4.8 percent in the three months to September of 2020, higher than 4.5 percent in the previous period and 3.9 percent a year earlier. It is the highest jobless rate since the last quarter of 2016, amid the coronavirus-hit. Figures were in line with forecasts. July to September 2020 also showed a record number of redundancies (up by 181,000 to 314,000), while the employment rate continued to fall to 75.3 percent. The total number of weekly hours worked was 925 million, down 127.6 million hours on the previous year but up a record 83.1 million hours compared with the previous quarter.
2020-11-10
UK Jobless Rate Rises to Over 3-Year High of 4.5%
The UK unemployment rate increased to 4.5 percent in the three months to August 2020 from 4.1 percent in the previous period and above market expectations of 4.3 percent. It was the highest jobless rate since the three months to May 2017, as the coronavirus pandemic hit the labour market. For June to August 2020, an estimated 1.52 million people were unemployed, up 209,000 on the year and up 138,000 on the quarter. The number of people temporarily away from work rose to almost 7.3 million people in April to June 2020 but has fallen to 6.4 million people in June to August 2020. There were also around 192,000 people away from work because of the pandemic and receiving no pay in June to August 2020, this has fallen from 419,000 in April to June 2020. Redundancies jumped by a record 114,000 on the quarter and by 113,000 on the year. The annual increase was the largest since April to June 2009, with the number of redundancies reaching its highest level since May to July 2009.
2020-10-13
UK Jobless Rate Rises to Near 2-Year High of 4.1%
The UK unemployment rate rose to 4.1 percent in the three months to July of 2020 from 3.9 percent in the previous period, matching market expectations. It was the highest jobless rate since the three months to October 2018, as the coronavirus pandemic hit the labour market. For May to July 2020, an estimated 1.4 million people were unemployed, up 104,000 on the year and up 62,000 on the quarter. The quarterly rise was mainly driven by an increase for unemployed people aged 18 to 24 years and people who have been unemployed for up to six months. The number of people who are estimated to be temporarily away from work (including furloughed workers) has fallen, but it was still more than 5 million in July 2020, with over 2.5 million of these being away for three months or more. There were also around 250,000 people away from work because of the pandemic and receiving no pay in July 2020. Total pay fell by 1 percent on the year, the third consecutive decline in earnings.
2020-09-15

United Kingdom Unemployment Rate
In the United Kingdom, the unemployment rate measures the number of people actively looking for a job as a percentage of the labour force.