Uk Jobs Market Continues To Weaken As Unemployment Hits Four-Year High And Wage Growth Slows

Today's jobs report also shows the wages in the UK public sector are rising nearly twice as fast as in the private sector.

Annual average regular earnings growth was 7.6% for the public sector and 3.9% for the private sector in August to October.

This is partly due too some public sector pay rises being paid earlier in 2025 than in 2024, causing a base effect.

ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown explains:

"Wage growth slowed further in the private sector, while increasing again in the public sector, reflecting the continued impact of some pay rises being awarded earlier than they were last year."

Introduction: UK unemployment rate hits 5.1%

Jobs reports from from both sides of the Atlantic are in focus today, as we get our final health check on the labour markets in the UK and the US.

And the breaking news is that Britain's unemployment rate has hit a new four-year high, as firms continue to cut jobs.

The UK's unemployment rate has risen to 5.1% in the August-October period, up from 5% a month ago, to its highest level since the three months to January 2021.

Unemployment rose, again, as the number of people on company payrolls fell; by 149,000 between October 2024 and October 2025, and by 22,000 in October alone.

The ONS also estimates that payrolled employees for November 2025 decreased by 171,000 on the year, and by 38,000 (0.1%) on the month, to 30.3 million.

And with the jobs market cooling, wage growth has slowed again too.

Average earnings, excluding bonuses, rose by 4.6% in the quarter, down from 4.7% a month ago. Total pay growth (including bonuses) slowed to 4.7% from 4.9%.

That weakening in pay growth may encourage the Bank of England to cut interest rates on Thursday.

ONS director of economic statistics Liz McKeown said:

"The overall picture continues to be of a weakening labour market. The number of employees on payroll has fallen again, reflecting subdued hiring activity, while firms told us there were fewer jobs in the latest period."This weakness is also reflected in an increase in the unemployment rate, while vacancies remained broadly flat. The fall in payroll numbers and increase in unemployment has been seen particularly among some younger age groups.

Later today we'll finally get the delayed US non-farm payroll report for November, showing how many jobs were created last month. This report was held up by the US government shutdown, which also meant October's report was cancelled.

Source: GUARDIAN