UK Jobless Rate Highest Since 2021
2025-05-13 06:15
By
Czyrill Jean Coloma
1 min. read
The United Kingdom's unemployment rate edged higher to 4.5% from January to March 2025, after remaining unchanged at 4.4% for four consecutive periods, aligning with market expectations.
This marked the highest jobless rate since the three months ending in August 2021, as the number of people unemployed for up to 6 months, 6 to 12 months, and over 12 months all increased.
Meanwhile, the number of employed individuals rose by 112 thousand, marking the smallest increase since the three months ending December 2024, to reach 33.98 million, mainly driven by a fall in full-time employment.
In addition, the number of people holding second jobs increased, now representing 3.9% of all employed individuals.
Lastly, the economic inactivity rate decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 21.4%.