The UK unemployment rate remained at 5.1% in the three months to November 2025, as businesses held off hiring amid rising payroll costs and economic uncertainty.
According to the Office for National Statistics today (20 January), estimates for payrolled employees in the UK fell by 155,000 between November 2024 and November 2025 and decreased by 33,000 on a monthly basis. Figures for December suggested this trend is set to continue, with a 43,000 fall in payrolled employees expected. Wage growth – a metric the Bank of England has continued to keep a close eye on when making its interest rate decisions – has continued to ease, with annual growth in regular earnings excluding bonuses falling slightly to 4.5% from 4.6%. As for the UK econ...
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