ONS Labour Market November 2025

Key takeaways

Payrolled employees 

• Fell by 117,000 (0.4%) between September 2024 and September 2025.
• Declined by 32,000 (0.1%) between August and September 2025.
• Over the July to September 2025 period, dropped by 109,000 (0.4%) year-on-year and 26,000 (0.1%) quarter-on-quarter.
• Early estimate for October 2025 shows a fall of 32,000 on the month and 180,000 (0.6%) on the year to 30.3 million (provisional and subject to revision).

Employment and unemployment 

• Employment rate (16-64) was 75.0% in July-September 2025, down on the quarter but higher than a year ago.
• Unemployment rate (16+) rose to 5.0%, up on both the quarter and year.

Economic inactivity and claimants 

• Economic inactivity rate (16-64) was 21.0%, largely unchanged on the quarter but lower than a year ago.
• The claimant count rose in October 2025 to 1.696 million on the month but remains down on the year.

Vacancies 

• Vacancies were broadly unchanged in August-October 2025, with a small, estimated rise of 2,000 (0.2%) to 723,000.
• This ends a long run of declines, indicating tentative stabilisation in vacancy demand.

Earnings growth 

• Regular earnings (excluding bonuses) rose 4.6% year-on-year in July–September 2025; total earnings (including bonuses) rose 4.8%.
• Private sector regular pay grew 4.2%, while public sector pay rose 6.6% (affected by the timing of 2025 pay deals).
• CPIH-adjusted: +0.5% for regular pay, +0.7% for total pay.
• CPI-adjusted: +0.8% for regular pay, +1.0% for total pay.

Labour Disputes 

• Estimated 39,000 working days lost to strike action in September 2025.

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