Reference card
Labour market
Unemployment and employment rates are different denominators, not mirror images - both can rise at once when inactivity moves.
Rates are seasonally adjusted Labour Force Survey estimates; the LFS has had well-publicised response-rate problems, which is why revisions are shown.
4.9% of workers were unemployed in May 2026
Roughly 5 in every 100 people who want work and are looking for it did not have a job. A year earlier it was 4.7% - so unemployment has risen.
Full provenance - official series name, source, fingerprint
SERIES: Unemployment rate (aged 16 and over, seasonally adjusted): %RELEASED: 17 Aug 2026NEXT RELEASE: 15 September 2026SOURCE: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peoplenotinwork/unemployment/timeseries/mgsx/lms/dataRETRIEVED: 19 Aug 2026 · sha256 3d5e53c9…1501Challenge this figure
75.1% of working-age people were in work in May 2026
Out of every 100 people aged 16-64, about 75 had a job. A year earlier it was 75.3%.
Full provenance - official series name, source, fingerprint
SERIES: Employment rate (aged 16 to 64, seasonally adjusted): %RELEASED: 17 Aug 2026NEXT RELEASE: 15 September 2026SOURCE: https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/timeseries/lf24/lms/dataRETRIEVED: 19 Aug 2026 · sha256 6505cee5…0ea5Challenge this figure
Revision history - every earlier capture, kept
Official series get revised; records here are never overwritten. A changed figure is integrity, not error, when the change is visible.
- 22 Jul 2026 - Unemployment rate (aged 16 and over, seasonally adjusted): %: 4.9% (2026 APR) - ONS series
- 16 Jul 2026 - Unemployment rate (aged 16 and over, seasonally adjusted): %: 4.9% (2026 MAR) - ONS series
- 22 Jul 2026 - Employment rate (aged 16 to 64, seasonally adjusted): %: 75.1% (2026 APR) - ONS series LF2
- 16 Jul 2026 - Employment rate (aged 16 to 64, seasonally adjusted): %: 75% (2026 MAR) - ONS series LF24,