Finance
Unemployment rate
4.9%
2026 MAY-JUL · ■ 0.0pp vs previous
Ageing · as of 15 Sept 2026due in 8d
27d old · Monthly, rolling three-month estimate
Explained
How is UK unemployment measured?
The unemployment rate comes from the Labour Force Survey: people without a job who have actively sought work in the last four weeks and can start within two.
What changed
Since previous release
0 pts
vs 2026 APR-JUN
Over 1 year
+0.2 pts
vs 2025 MAY-JUL
Over 10 years
0 pts
vs 2016 MAY-JUL
Worked out from published values only. Missing comparisons mean that period was not published.
What it measures
Unemployment follows the International Labour Organization definition: someone aged 16 or over who is not in work, has looked for work in the past four weeks and is available to start within two. The rate is the share of the economically active population — not the whole population.
How it is compiled
The ONS estimates the figure from the Labour Force Survey, the UK's largest household survey. Because it is a survey, every estimate carries a confidence interval, which the ONS publishes alongside the headline rate.
What it is not
It is not the claimant count (people on unemployment-related benefits), which is a separate administrative series the ONS also publishes. People not seeking work — students, carers, the long-term sick — are counted as economically inactive, not unemployed.
Methodology
ONS labour market methodologyUKStats reproduces the published figure exactly; the publisher's own methodology notes are the authoritative description of how it is compiled.
Cite this figure
Office for National Statistics, "Unemployment rate", 2026 MAY-JUL. Via UKStats (ukstats.co.uk/explained/uk-unemployment), accessed 12 October 2026. Original: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment/timeseries/mgsx/lmsEmbed this figure
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