Latest reading: The labor market expanded by 130,000 jobs in January 2026, a sharp acceleration from December’s downwardly revised increase...
Unemployment in United Kingdom
The unemployment rate in the United Kingdom averaged 4.6% in the decade to 2024, below the 5.8% average for Major Economies. The unemployment rate in the United Kingdom was 4.3% in 2024. For more information on unemployment, visit our dedicated page.
United Kingdom Unemployment Chart
Note: This chart displays Unemployment Rate for United Kingdom from 2014 to 2025.
Source: Macrobond.
United Kingdom Unemployment Data
| 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Unemployment (% of active population, aop) | 4.5 | 4.6 | 3.8 | 4.1 | 4.3 |
| Unemployment (% of active population, eop) | 5.3 | 4.2 | 3.9 | 3.9 | 4.4 |
Consensus Forecasts and Projections for the next ten years
How should you choose a forecaster if some are too optimistic while others are too pessimistic? FocusEconomics collects British unemployment projections for the next ten years from a panel of 34 analysts at the leading national, regional and global forecast institutions. These projections are then validated by our in-house team of economists and data analysts and averaged to provide one Consensus Forecast you can rely on for each indicator. By averaging all forecasts, upside and downside forecasting errors tend to cancel each other out, leading to the most reliable unemployment forecast available for British unemployment.
Download one of our sample reports to visualize what a Consensus Forecast is and see our British unemployment projections.
Want to get access to the full dataset of British unemployment forecasts? Send an email to info@focus-economics.com.
Latest Global Unemployment News
-
United States: Job gains beat expectations in January -
Spain: Unemployment rate fell to 18-year low in Q4 Latest reading: The unemployment rate fell to 9.9% in Q4 from 10.5% in Q3. The market had expected a slight... -
Australia: Unemployment rate falls in December Latest reading: Labour market conditions improved toward the end of the year, with the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate easing to... -
United States: Job gains disappoint in December Latest reading: The US labor market recorded an increase of 50,000 jobs in December 2025, a slower pace than the... -
Euro Area: Unemployment inches down in November Latest reading: In November, the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate edged down to 6.3% from October’s 6.4% and remained close to... -
United States: Job gains beat expectations in November Latest reading: Employment growth reached 64,000 in November, following a loss of 105,000 jobs in October and exceeding market forecasts... -
Australia: Unemployment rate dips in November Latest reading: The seasonally adjusted jobless rate came in at 4.3% in November 2025, holding steady from October and coming...