ONS Labour Market August 2026

Payrolls continue to soften

Payrolled employees fell by 78,000 (0.3%) between June 2025 and June 2026.
Compared with the previous month, payroll numbers were broadly unchanged, decreasing by 13,000 (0.0%).
Across April to June 2026, payrolled employees declined by 86,000 (0.3%) year-on-year and by 37,000 (0.1%) on the quarter.
The early estimate for July 2026 suggests a decrease of 94,000 (0.3%) on the year, while remaining broadly flat on the month (-13,000), leaving total payrolled employees at 30.3 million (provisional and subject to revision).

Employment remains resilient as unemployment eases

The UK employment rate for people aged 16-64 was 75.1% in April to June 2026, down 0.2 percentage points on the year but up 0.1 percentage points on the quarter.
The unemployment rate stood at 4.9%, up 0.2 percentage points on the year but down 0.1 percentage points on the quarter.
Total employment stood at 34.5 million people, up 84,000 on the quarter and 253,000 on the year.

Inactivity remains stable as claimant numbers fall

The economic inactivity rate (aged 16-64) stood at 20.9%, broadly unchanged on both the year and the quarter.
The Claimant Count decreased on both the month and the year to 1.665 million in July 2026 (provisional).

Vacancies continue to decline

Job vacancies fell by 6,000 (0.8%) on the quarter to 707,000 in May to July 2026.
Vacancies have remained broadly flat since the start of the year, but are now around their lowest non-pandemic level since 2014, with higher labour and operating costs weighing on recruitment among some small firms.

Pay growth continues to moderate

Regular earnings (excluding bonuses) increased by 3.5% year-on-year, while total earnings (including bonuses) rose by 4.1% in April to June 2026.
Public sector regular pay growth was 6.1%, compared with 2.8% in the private sector.
In real terms:
- CPIH-adjusted earnings rose by 0.5% for regular pay and 1.1% for total pay.
- CPI-adjusted earnings increased by 0.7% for regular pay and 1.3% for total pay.

Labour disputes

An estimated 47,000 working days were lost because of labour disputes across the UK in June 2026.

The estimated number of vacancies has seen a quarterly decrease of 6,000, to 707,000