16th December 2025
Estimates for payrolled employees in the UK fell by 149,000 (0.5%) between October 2024 and October 2025 and decreased by 22,000 (0.1%) between September 2025 and October 2025.
When looking at August to October 2025, the period comparable with our Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates, the number of payrolled employees fell by 113,000 (0.4%) over the year, and by 24,000 (0.1%) over the quarter.
The early estimate of payrolled employees for November 2025 decreased by 171,000 (0.6%) on the year, and by 38,000 (0.1%) on the month, to 30.3 million. The November 2025 estimate should be treated as a provisional estimate and is likely to be revised when more data are received next month. Information on revisions to payrolled employees is published monthly.
Estimates from January to March 2025 include the full effect of the improvements in LFS data collection and sampling methods introduced from January 2024. However, we are continuing our efforts to further improve the response to the survey. Consequently, estimates may be subject to the effect of these further improvements, which may have an ongoing impact on the survey. An increased volatility will remain in the LFS estimates for mid- 2023 and throughout 2024, so we would advise additional caution when interpreting survey change measures.
We recommend using LFS estimates as part of our suite of labour market indicators, alongside workforce jobs, Claimant Count and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) estimates.
The UK employment rate for people aged 16 to 64 years was estimated at 74.9% in August to October 2025. This is down in the latest quarter, but largely unchanged on estimates a year ago.
The UK unemployment rate for people aged 16 years and over was estimated at 5.1% in August to October 2025. This is up in the latest quarter and above estimates of a year ago.
The UK economic inactivity rate for people aged 16 to 64 years was estimated at 21.0% in August to October 2025. This is down in the latest quarter and below estimates of a year ago.
The UK Claimant Count for November 2025 increased on the month but decreased on the year to an estimated 1.683 million. The Claimant Count figure for the latest month is provisional, and is subject to revisions after first publication, owing to later amendments to records in the administrative systems, for example as work capability assessments conclude and more information is available about benefit claimants' ability to work. Revisions in recent months have tended to be made downwards. Further information on Claimant Count revisions is published each month.
The estimated number of vacancies in the UK are broadly unchanged on the quarter; early estimates suggest a small decrease of just 2,000 (0.2%) vacancies to 729,000 in September to November 2025.
The estimated number of workforce jobs in the UK was 36.6 million in September 2025. This is a decrease of 116,000 (0.3%) from June 2025, with decreases of 15,000 (0.0%) in the employee jobs component and 120,000 (2.9%) in the self-employment jobs component. Over the year, the estimated number of workforce jobs was down by 115,000 (0.3%) caused by a decrease of 201,000 (4.7%) in the self-employment jobs component.
Employment in the public sector was estimated at 6.18 million in September 2025, an increase of 7,000 (0.1%) compared with June 2025, and an increase of 62,000 (1.0%) compared with September 2024.
Annual growth in employees' average earnings in Great Britain for regular earnings (excluding bonuses) was 4.6%, and for total earnings (including bonuses) was 4.7% in August to October 2025. Annual average regular earnings growth was 3.9% for the private sector and 7.6% for the public sector. However, the public sector annual growth rate is affected by some public sector pay rises being paid earlier in 2025 than in 2024. RTI pay data are also published and provide a provisional, timelier estimate of median pay. The two data sources generally trend well for mean total pay.
Annual growth in real terms, adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH), was 0.5% for regular pay and 0.6% for total pay, in August to October 2025.
Annual growth in real terms, adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Prices Index excluding owner occupiers' housing costs (CPI), was 0.9% for regular pay and 1.0% for total pay, in August to October 2025.
There were an estimated 39,000 working days lost because of labour disputes across the UK in October 2025.
Read the full ONS report HERE