<\/p>\n
The rate of UK unemployment rose to a four-year high of 5.1% in the three months to October, as the labour market showed signs of further weakening before last month\u2019s budget.<\/p>\n
Wage growth excluding bonuses fell to 4.6% in October, from 4.7% the previous month.<\/p>\n
The latest figures estimated the number of employees on payrolls plunged by 38,000 during November to 30.3 million in further evidence of a weakened jobs market.<\/p>\n The number of people receiving unemployment benefits also increased, indicating lay-offs by employers were also a factor in the latest figures.<\/p>\n Economists polled by Reuters had anticipated the rise in the unemployment rate to 5.1% in October, up from 5% in the previous month.<\/p>\n The jobless rate is the highest since the first quarter of 2021 \u2013 but with the pandemic era stripped out, it is the highest since early 2016.<\/p>\n The ONS said younger workers in particular were struggling in the difficult hiring climate.<\/p>\n Liz McKeown, the ONS director of economic statistics, said: \u201cThe overall picture continues to be of a weakening labour market.<\/p>\n \u201cThe number of employees on payroll has fallen again, reflecting subdued hiring activity, while firms told us there were fewer jobs in the latest period.\u201d<\/p>\n The work and pensions secretary, Pat McFadden, said: \u201cThere are over 350,000 more people in work this year and the rate of inactivity is at its joint lowest in over five years, but today\u2019s figures underline the scale of the challenge we\u2019ve inherited.\u201d<\/p>\n Unemployment has been rising steadily since late 2023. In the three months to December 2023 the unemployment rate was 3.9%. By the time of the general election in July 2024 it was 4.2%, before rising to 5% in the three months to September 2025.<\/p>\n A recent study by the Resolution Foundation found that young people had borne the brunt of rising joblessness<\/a>, with an extra 415,000 people under the age of 26 swelling the unemployment figures from October 2020 to September 2025.<\/p>\n Wages have remained higher than inflation for much of the past two years, although much of the extra disposable income, especially at the top half of the income scale, has been saved rather than spent.<\/p>\n