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The UK unemployment rate rose to a near five-year high of 5.2% for the final quarter of the year, while wage growth also continued to slow.
According to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), this was up from the 5.1% rise recorded in the three months to November, following a period of “weak” hiring activity.
Meanwhile, the annual growth in both regular and total earnings was 4.2%, slowing from 4.4% the prior month, though the public sector saw 7.2% growth while the private sector saw growth of 3.4%.
It comes as the estimated number of vacancies in the UK has remained broadly flat across recent periods. Early estimates in November 2025 to January 2026 suggest a small increase of 2,000 (0.3%), to 726,000, compared with August to October 2025.
There were also an estimated 118,000 working days lost because of labour disputes across the UK in December 2025.
ONS director of Economic Statistics Liz McKeown said: “The number of workers on payroll fell further in the final quarter of the year, reflecting weak hiring activity, although it is largely unchanged in the latest month. Over the same period the unemployment rate increased, with data showing that more people who were out of work are now actively looking for a job.
“The number of vacancies has remained broadly stable since the middle of last year. Alongside rising unemployment this means that the number of unemployed people per vacancy has increased, reaching a new post-pandemic high. Meanwhile, redundancies are also showing an upward trend.”
She added: “Private sector wage growth continues to slow and is at its lowest rate in five years. Public sector pay growth also slowed in the latest period but remains elevated, still affected by some pay awards being implemented earlier in 2025 than 2024, although this effect has now started to diminish.”
