UK unemployment rises to 4.8% as vacancies keep shrinking

Business Oct 14, 2025

The UK's job scene is settling down, but not without a few bumps—unemployment has ticked up to 4.8% in the three months to August 2025, and the employment rate for people aged 16-64 slipped slightly to 75.1%.
Job vacancies keep shrinking too, now down for the 39th consecutive period.

Average pay grows by 4.7%

Good news if you're working: average pay (not counting bonuses) grew by 4.7%, with public sector workers seeing a bigger jump than those in private companies.
But all this wage growth could make it trickier for the Bank of England to manage inflation and interest rates.
And with tax changes on the horizon later this November, there's more uncertainty ahead for workers trying to plan their next steps.