United Kingdom Unemployment Rate

The United Kingdom’s unemployment rate stood at 4.4% from March to May 2024, unchanged from the previous three-month period and aligning with market expectations. It remained at its highest reading since the three months to September 2021, as the number of unemployed individuals rose by 88 thousand to a total of 1.53 million, driven by those unemployed for up to 6 months, which remained above levels from a year ago. Also, those unemployed for over 6 and up to 12 months and those over 12 months had increased in the latest period. Meanwhile, the number of employed individuals rose by 19 thousand to 33.0 million, mainly due to a rise in part-time employees and full-time self-employed workers. Additionally, the number of people in employment with second jobs went up during the period, accounting for 3.8% of all employed individuals. Finally, the economic inactivity rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 22.1%.