Today, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) released the latest labour market data including insights on the unemployment rate, economic inactivity, vacancies, and pay growth.
Recruitment experts, Pertemps, have produced a summary of the data for small businesses.
Overall trends – January 2025
Market Overview: Between September to November 2024, wage growth remained strong, unemployment and employment levels both rose, and economic inactivity marginally fell but remains high. These trends suggest a cooling labour market but the challenges associated with activating the finite labour supply persisting.
Employment rate 74.8% : The UK employment rate for ages 16–64 stood at 74.8%, this is down on the quarter, unchanged from last year.
Unemployment rate 4.4%: The unemployment rate for people aged 16+ is 4.4%, up 0.1% on the quarter.
Economic Inactivity 21.6%: The economic inactivity rate (people not seeking work) slightly decreased to 21.6%, mainly due to fewer individuals citing caring responsibilities or health issues as reasons for inactivity.
