ONS Labour Market October 2026

Payrolls remain below last year’s levels

Payrolled employees fell by 111,000 (0.4%) between August 2025 and August 2026.
Compared with the previous month, payroll numbers remained largely unchanged, increasing by 1,000 (0.0%).
Across June to August 2026, payrolled employees declined by 92,000 (0.3%) YoY and by 37,000 (0.1%) on the quarter.
The early estimate for September 2026 suggests a decrease of 66,000 (0.2%) on the year and an increase of 13,000 (0.0%) on the month, leaving total payrolled employees at 30.3 million (provisional and subject to revision)

Employment rises, unemployment edges down

The UK employment rate for people aged 16-64 was 75.3% in June to August 2026, up 0.2 percentage points on both the year and the quarter.
The unemployment rate stood at 4.7%, down 0.1 percentage points on both the year and the quarter.

Inactivity eases as claimant numbers rise

The economic inactivity rate for people aged 16-64 stood at 20.9% in June to August 2026, down 0.2 percentage points on the year and 0.1 percentage points on the quarter.
The Claimant Count increased on both the month and the year to 1.701 million in September 2026 (provisional).

Regular pay growth stable as total pay growth eases

Regular earnings excluding bonuses increased by 3.7% YoY in June to August 2026, with growth remaining relatively stable over the past six three-month periods.
Total earnings including bonuses rose by 3.7%, down from 3.9% in the previous three-month period, marking the lowest growth rate since 2020.
Public sector regular pay growth was 6.3%, compared with 3.0% in the private sector. Public sector growth continued to be affected by variations in the timing of pay awards.
In real terms:
- CPIH-adjusted earnings rose by 0.6% for regular pay and 0.7% for total pay.
- CPI-adjusted earnings increased by 0.8% for regular pay and 0.9% for total pay.

Vacancies record largest fall since early 2026

Job vacancies fell by 21,000 (2.9%) on the quarter to 691,000 in July to September 2026, the largest quarterly decline since January to March 2026.
Vacancies decreased by 37,000 (5.1%) on the year and by 28,000 since January to March 2026.
Excluding the pandemic period, vacancies were at their lowest level since 2014, with higher labour costs weighing on recruitment among smaller firms.

The estimated number of vacancies has seen a quarterly decrease of 21,000 to 691,000

Source: ONS