ONS Labour Market December 2025

Payrolled Employees

• Fell by 149,000 (0.5%) between October 2024 and October 2025.
• Declined by 22,000 (0.1%) between September and October 2025.
• Over August to October 2025, payrolled employees dropped by 113,000 (0.4%) year-on-year and 24,000 (0.1%) quarter-on-quarter.
• The early estimate for November indicates a further fall of 38,000 on the month and 171,000 (0.6%) on the year, bringing the total to 30.3 million (provisional and subject to revision).

Employment and Unemployment

• The employment rate (16-64) stood at 74.9% in three months to October, down on the quarter and largely unchanged on the year.
• The unemployment rate (16+) rose to 5.1%, increasing on both the quarter and the year.

Economic Inactivity and Claimants

• The economic inactivity rate (16-64) was 21.0%, down on the quarter and lower than a year ago.
• The claimant count increased in November to 1.683 million on the month, though it remains down on the year.

Vacancies

• Vacancies were broadly unchanged between September and November, with a small estimated fall of 2,000 (0.2%) to 729,000.
• This follows a prolonged period of declines, suggesting tentative stabilisation in labour demand.

Earnings Growth

• Regular earnings (excluding bonuses) increased by 4.6% year-on-year between August and October, while total earnings (including bonuses) rose by 4.7%.
• Private sector regular pay grew by 3.9%, compared with 7.6% in the public sector, reflecting the timing of 2025 pay settlements.
• CPIH-adjusted real growth: 0.5% for regular pay and 0.6% for total pay.
• CPI-adjusted real growth: 0.9% for regular pay and 1.0% for total pay.

Labour Disputes

• An estimated 39,000 working days were lost to strike action in October 2025.

Labour market loses momentum as unemployment moves above 5%

Source: ONS

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