Labour market overview, UK - Office for National Statistics
Archived: 2026-04-23 17:18
Labour market overview, UK - Office for National Statistics
Labour market overview, UK: April 2026
Estimates of employment, unemployment, economic inactivity and other employment-related statistics for the UK.
Hwn yw'r datganiad diweddaraf.
Gweld datganiadau blaenorol
Cyswllt:
Email
Labour Market team
Dyddiad y datganiad:
21 April 2026
Cyhoeddiad nesaf:
19 May 2026
Cynnwys
Other pages in this release
Main points
Trends and considerations around comparisons
Latest indicators at a glance
Data on labour market
Glossary
Data sources and quality
Related links
Cite this statistical bulletin
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Average weekly earnings in Great Britain
Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK
Employment in the UK
Labour market in the regions of the UK
Vacancies and jobs in the UK
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Estimates for payrolled employees in the UK fell by 74,000 (0.2%) between February 2025 and February 2026, and decreased by 6,000 (0.0%) between January and February 2026. This is based on administrative data from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
When looking at December 2025 to February 2026, the period comparable with our Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates, the number of payrolled employees fell by 87,000 (0.3%) over the year and by 9,000 (0.0%) over the quarter.
The early estimate of payrolled employees for March 2026 decreased by 65,000 (0.2%) on the year, and by 11,000 (0.0%) on the month, to 30.3 million. The March 2026 estimate should be treated as a provisional estimate and is likely to be revised when more data are received next month. Information on
revisions to payrolled employees
is published monthly. We have published analysis of recent revisions in our
LFS quality update: January 2026
article.
Estimates from January to March 2025 include the full effect of the improvements in LFS data collection and sampling methods introduced from January 2024. However, since then, we have increased the number of interviewers for the LFS, which has continued to increase the number of responses to the survey. Consequently, estimates may be subject to the effect of these further improvements, which may have an ongoing impact on the survey. An increased volatility will remain in the LFS estimates for mid-2023 and throughout 2024, so we would advise additional caution when interpreting survey change measures.
We recommend using LFS estimates as part of our suite of labour market indicators, alongside workforce jobs, Claimant Count and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) estimates.
The UK employment rate (based on the LFS) for people aged 16 to 64 years was estimated at 75.0% in December 2025 to February 2026. This is down in the latest quarter but largely unchanged compared with estimates of a year ago.
The UK unemployment rate for people aged 16 years and over was estimated at 4.9% in December 2025 to February 2026. This is down in the latest quarter but above estimates of a year ago.
The UK economic inactivity rate for people aged 16 to 64 years was estimated at 21.0% in December 2025 to February 2026. This is up in the latest quarter but below estimates of a year ago.
The UK Claimant Count for March 2026 increased on the month but decreased on the year to an estimated 1.694 million. The Claimant Count figure for the latest month is provisional and is subject to revisions after first publication. This is the result of later amendments to records in the administrative systems, for example, as work capability assessments conclude and more information is available about benefit claimants' ability to work.
Revisions in recent months have tended to be made downwards, as shown in our
LFS quality update: January 2026
article. Further information on
Claimant Count revisions
is published each month, and our latest
LFS quality update: April 2026
article includes information on definitional differences with LFS unemployment.
The estimated number of vacancies in the UK has decreased in the latest quarter, following broadly flat estimates since March to May 2025. Early estimates for January to March 2026 suggest a decrease of 29,000 (3.9%), to 711,000, compared with October to December 2025, this is the lowest level of vacancies since February to April 2021.
Annual growth in employees' average earnings in Great Britain was 3.6% for regular earnings (excluding bonuses) and 3.8% for total earnings (including bonuses) in December 2025 to February 2026.
Annual average regular earnings growth was 5.2% for the public sector, and 3.2% for the private sector. The public sector annual growth rate has recently been affected by a base effect because of some public sector pay rises being paid earlier in 2025 than in 2024. This effect is now minimal, reaching its peak in the three months to November 2025, and will have worked its way out next month.
We also publish RTI pay data, which provide a provisional, timelier estimate of median pay. The two data sources generally trend well for mean total pay.
Annual growth in real terms, adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH), was 0.2% for regular pay, and 0.4% for total pay in December 2025 to February 2026.
Annual growth in real terms, adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Prices Index excluding owner occupiers' housing costs (CPI), was 0.4% for regular pay, and 0.7% for total pay in December 2025 to February 2026.
There were an estimated 39,000 working days lost because of labour disputes across the UK in February 2026.
!
This bulletin includes data from business and social surveys, as well as data from administrative sources. It includes a combination of accredited official statistics and official statistics in development, so we advise taking this into consideration when using. Read more in
Section 7: Data sources and quality
.
Nôl i'r tabl cynnwys
This section provides additional commentary to help users assess differences between the employment-related data sources we publish.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is our survey of households and remains the lead measure for data on labour market participation. Workforce jobs (WFJ) primarily uses business surveys to measure employee jobs with the LFS covering self-employed jobs. HM Revenue and Customs Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) data come from administrative tax records and cover only payrolled employees.
Because these sources are collected and processed differently, differences in levels are expected (for example, jobs compared with people, or varying reference periods). Divergence across indicators for more than one period is not unusual.
Despite the coherence challenges, the LFS remains the sole source for unemployment, economic inactivity and self-employment data, offering detailed breakdowns unavailable elsewhere.
Recent revisions and improvements
We updated our estimates of WFJ in our March 2026 labour market publication. In the latest period, the employee component of WFJ showed a quarterly increase after two consecutive quarterly decreases. WFJ can sometimes lag other indicators, as seen at the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
As part of ongoing work to address quality concerns with the LFS, response levels and rates have shown clear improvement, with responses now close to their pre-pandemic level. The achieved sample, including imputed cases (the dataset size), has increased from 75,757 individuals in July to September 2025 to 77,927 individuals in October to December 2025, as shown in our
LFS performance and quality monitoring report: October to
December 2025
. Our assessment is that efforts to bolster the achieved sample have improved the quality of the survey and moved the LFS measure of employment closer to levels indicated by RTI (see Figure 1).
These enhancements, introduced since January 2024, mean that movements in the LFS over the past year reflect both underlying developments in the economy and improved survey quality (including obtaining more responses from employed people). As a result, while levels have moved closer to RTI, measures of change may be less aligned with RTI because they capture both real labour market shifts and changes arising from the survey improvements.
Latest employee data
The three employee indicators over a longer time series are shown in Figure 1. RTI and the employee component of WFJ generally follow similar trends but have diverged in some periods.
Coherence between the LFS employees and the other sources has continued to improve in recent periods, although differences do remain. Over the last year, LFS employee-level estimates have aligned more closely with RTI and WFJ, helped by recent operational improvements to the LFS. As movements in the LFS over the past year reflect both underlying developments in the economy and improved survey quality, we continue to advise caution when comparing current LFS results with earlier periods.
Our view remains that RTI currently provides the most reliable measure of employees. The number of RTI employees has fallen since its peak in 2024, and has been broadly flat in recent periods. The latest flash estimate shows a small monthly decrease, although this is subject to revision when more data are received next month.
Figure 1: LFS employees have been converging with RTI and WFJ over the last year
Comparison of employee estimates over time, UK, July to September 2014 to December to February 2026
Source: Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Workforce Jobs (WFJ) from the Office for National Statistics, and Pay As You Earn Real Time Information (RTI) from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
Notes:
Three-month averages of RTI payrolled employees have been used here for comparability.
Workforce jobs are published for the months of March, June, September and December. For presentational purposes, they have been plotted against the middle month of the time period shown. For example, March is plotted against February to April.
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Figure 1: LFS employees have been converging with RTI and WFJ over the last year
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.csv
.xls
Further information
To deepen our understanding of possible bias in our surveys, we have launched a new project to link LFS and Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS) survey data with HMRC PAYE data at the record level.
Alongside the labour market release in April, we have published our
Labour Force Survey quality update: April 2026
article. The article provides information about current response rates, trends and known biases in LFS data, and provides users with information to better understand the current quality of the data.
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Summary of labour market statistics
Dataset A01 | Released 21 April 2026
Labour market statistics summary data table, including earnings, employment, unemployment, redundancies and vacancies, Great Britain and UK, published monthly.
Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, seasonally adjusted
Dataset | Released 21 April 2026
Earnings and employment statistics from Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI), UK, NUTS 1, 2 and 3 areas and local authorities, monthly, seasonally adjusted.
A guide to labour market data
Methodology | Last revised 12 August 2025
Summary of labour market datasets, providing estimates of employment, unemployment, average weekly earnings, and the number of vacancies. Tables are listed alphabetically and by topic.
View all related data on our
related data page
.
Alternatively,
Nomis
provides free access to the most detailed and up-to-date UK labour market statistics.
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Average weekly earnings
Average weekly earnings (AWE) are calculated using information based on the Monthly Wages and Salaries Survey (MWSS).
AWE measures money paid by employers to employees in Great Britain before tax and other deductions from pay. The estimates are not just a measure of pay rises, because they also reflect, for example, changes in the overall structure of the workforce. More high-paid jobs in the economy would have an upward effect on the earnings growth rate.
Economic inactivity
People not in the labour force who are not in employment but do not meet the internationally accepted definition of unemployment. This is because they have not been seeking work within the last four weeks or they are unable to start work in the next two weeks. The economic inactivity rate is the proportion of people aged between 16 and 64 years who are not in the labour force. The Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates are
official statistics in
development
.
Employment
Employment measures the number of people in paid work or who had a job that they were temporarily away from (for example, because they were on holiday or off sick). This differs from the number of jobs because some people have more than one job. The employment rate is the proportion of people aged between 16 and 64 years who are in employment. The LFS estimates are official statistics in development.
Unemployment
Unemployment measures people without a job who have been actively seeking work within the last four weeks and are available to start work within the next two weeks. The unemployment rate is not the proportion of the total population who are unemployed. It is the proportion of the economically active population (people in work and those seeking and available to work) who are unemployed. The LFS estimates are official statistics in development.
Claimant Count
The Claimant Count is an official statistic in development that measures the number of people who are receiving a benefit principally for the reason of being unemployed. Currently, the Claimant Count consists of those receiving Jobseeker's Allowance, and Universal Credit claimants in the "searching for work" conditionality group.
Vacancies
Vacancies are defined as positions for which employers are actively seeking recruits from outside their business or organisation. The estimates are based on the Vacancy Survey. This is a survey of businesses designed to provide estimates of the stock of vacancies across the economy, excluding agriculture, forestry and fishing (a small sector for which the collection of estimates would not be practical).
Pay As You Earn Real Time Information
These data come from HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC's) Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) system. They cover the whole population, rather than a sample of people or companies, and they will allow for more detailed estimates of the population.
In July 2025, the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) published a
letter confirming the accreditation of HMRC
and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on earnings and employment from PAYE RTI
.
A more detailed glossary is available in our
Guide to labour market statistics
methodology.
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The estimates presented in this bulletin contain uncertainty. For more information, see our
Uncertainty and how we measure it for our surveys
methodology.
Information on revisions is available in our
Labour market statistics revisions policy
.
Information on the strengths and limitations of this bulletin is available in Section 13 of our
Labour market overview, UK: April 2021
bulletin.
Further information is available in our
Guide to labour market statistics
methodology.
Accredited official statistics
On 7 June 2024, the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) introduced the new accredited official statistics badge, to denote official statistics that have been independently reviewed by the OSR. Accredited official statistics comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the
Code of Practice for Statistics
.
This UK labour market bulletin includes a combination of
accredited official statistics
and
official statistics in
development
(until September 2023, these were called "experimental statistics"). Read more about the change in our
Guide to official statistics in development
.
The following labour market outputs are accredited official statistics:
Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) (accredited by the OSR in
July 2025
)
Labour disputes (rapid review completed by the OSR in February 2023)
Vacancy statistics (reviewed by the OSR in April 2022)
Workforce jobs (WFJ) (reviewed by the OSR in April 2022)
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (reviewed by OSR in December 2014)
The following labour market outputs are official statistics in development:
Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Claimant Count
Labour Force Survey
We have been facing the challenge of falling response rates for household surveys, as have other comparable countries. This issue became more acute in the LFS data collected for August 2023. The LFS estimates due to be published in October 2023 were suspended because of quality concerns. We developed a comprehensive plan to address these concerns and reintroduce LFS, as described in our
Labour Force Survey: planned improvements and its reintroduction
methodology. We reinstated reweighted LFS estimates into our monthly publication from February 2024, as described in our
Impact of reweighting on LFS key indicators: 2024
article. In December 2024, we carried out a
further LFS reweighting exercise, based on 2022 mid-year estimates
.
Estimates from January to March 2025 include the full effect of the improvements in LFS data collection and sampling methods introduced from January 2024. However, since then, we have increased the number of interviewers for the LFS, which has continued to increase the number of responses to the survey. Consequently, estimates may be subject to the effect of these further improvements, which may have an ongoing impact on survey results.
An increased volatility will remain in the LFS estimates for mid-2023 and throughout 2024, so we would advise additional caution when interpreting survey change measures. We recommend using LFS estimates as part of our suite of labour market indicators, alongside workforce jobs, Claimant Count and PAYE RTI estimates.
We are continuing to improve the quality of the LFS, building on our work to date. The achieved sample, including imputed cases (the dataset size), has increased from 75,757 individuals in July to September 2025, to 77,927 individuals in October to December 2025, as shown in our
LFS performance and quality monitoring report: October to December 2025
.
More information on LFS quality can be found in our
LFS quality update: April 2026
article.
Coherence of data sources
Understanding coherence challenges around our employment indicators continues to be a priority.
LFS reweighting has improved the coherence picture, as strong population growth in recent years is now incorporated into our estimates of all three labour market statuses.
We are also exploring how best to consider coherence between HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) PAYE RTI data and WFJ. As the former is essentially focused on employees, we recommend comparison with the employee jobs component of WFJ to align coverage of populations. One other important difference is that the RTI statistics published each month are a measure of people, rather than jobs, as in WFJ.
Our
Comparison of labour market data sources
methodology compares data sources and discusses some of the main differences.
Revisions
For this publication, vacancies estimates have been revised back to the start of the series in 2001. More information on the revisions can be found in our
Vacancies and jobs in the UK: April 2026
bulletin.
Our
Employment in the UK: April 2026
bulletin includes revisions of Claimant Count estimates back to January 2023 because of the implementation of a seasonal adjustment review.
Labour market transformation
We have provided an update on the transformation of labour market statistics in our
Labour market transformation update on progress and plans: April 2026
article.
We welcome your feedback on this latest update and our plans. Please email us at labour.market. transformation@ons.gov.uk to tell us what you think.
Coronavirus
For more information on how labour market data sources were affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, see our
Coronavirus and the effects on UK labour market statistics
article.
Making our published spreadsheets accessible
Following the
Government Statistical Service (GSS) guidance on releasing statistics in spreadsheets
, we will be amending our published tables over the coming months to improve the usability, accessibility and machine readability of our published statistics. To help users change to the new formats, we will be publishing
sample versions of a selection of our tables
and, where practical, we will initially publish the tables in both the new and current formats. If you have any questions or comments, please email us at labour.market@ons.gov.uk.
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ONS economic statistics and surveys improvement plan, quarterly progress update: April 2026
Article | Released 15 April 2026
Progress across the ONS against our recovery plans for improving our economic statistics and surveys, between December 2025 and March 2026.
Labour market transformation - update on progress and plans: April 2026
Article | Released 15 April 2026
Labour market transformation overview, building on previous engagement on the Transformed Labour Force Survey.
Economic activity and social change in the UK, real-time indicators: 19 March 2026
Bulletin | Released 19 March 2026
Data on the UK economy and society. These faster indicators are created using rapid response surveys, novel data sources, and innovative methods. These are official statistics in development.
Business insights and impact on the UK economy: 2 April 2026
Bulletin | Released 2 April 2026
The impact of challenges facing the economy and other events on UK businesses, including financial performance, workforce, trade, and business resilience.
Labour Force Survey performance and quality monitoring report: October to December 2025
Methodology | Released 17 February 2026
Response rates, sample size and quality assessment of our quarterly Labour Force Survey.
Labour Force Survey quality update: April 2026
Article | Released 21 April 2026
Assessment of Labour Force Survey data quality, including the impact of recent changes on the statistics, response levels and rates, and respondent characteristics.
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Office for National Statistics (ONS), released 21 April 2026, ONS website, statistical bulletin,
Labour market overview, UK: April 2026
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Gweld yr holl ddata a ddefnyddir yn y
Bwletin ystadegol
Manylion cyswllt ar gyfer y
Bwletin ystadegol
Labour Market team
labour.market@ons.gov.uk
Ffôn: +44 1633 455400
Labour market overview, UK: April 2026
Estimates of employment, unemployment, economic inactivity and other employment-related statistics for the UK.
Hwn yw'r datganiad diweddaraf.
Gweld datganiadau blaenorol
Cyswllt:
Labour Market team
Dyddiad y datganiad:
21 April 2026
Cyhoeddiad nesaf:
19 May 2026
Cynnwys
Other pages in this release
Main points
Trends and considerations around comparisons
Latest indicators at a glance
Data on labour market
Glossary
Data sources and quality
Related links
Cite this statistical bulletin
Argraffu'r
Bwletin ystadegol
Lawrlwytho fel PDF
Gweld yr holl ddata a ddefnyddir yn y
Bwletin ystadegol
Average weekly earnings in Great Britain
Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK
Employment in the UK
Labour market in the regions of the UK
Vacancies and jobs in the UK
Nôl i'r tabl cynnwys
Estimates for payrolled employees in the UK fell by 74,000 (0.2%) between February 2025 and February 2026, and decreased by 6,000 (0.0%) between January and February 2026. This is based on administrative data from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
When looking at December 2025 to February 2026, the period comparable with our Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates, the number of payrolled employees fell by 87,000 (0.3%) over the year and by 9,000 (0.0%) over the quarter.
The early estimate of payrolled employees for March 2026 decreased by 65,000 (0.2%) on the year, and by 11,000 (0.0%) on the month, to 30.3 million. The March 2026 estimate should be treated as a provisional estimate and is likely to be revised when more data are received next month. Information on
revisions to payrolled employees
is published monthly. We have published analysis of recent revisions in our
LFS quality update: January 2026
article.
Estimates from January to March 2025 include the full effect of the improvements in LFS data collection and sampling methods introduced from January 2024. However, since then, we have increased the number of interviewers for the LFS, which has continued to increase the number of responses to the survey. Consequently, estimates may be subject to the effect of these further improvements, which may have an ongoing impact on the survey. An increased volatility will remain in the LFS estimates for mid-2023 and throughout 2024, so we would advise additional caution when interpreting survey change measures.
We recommend using LFS estimates as part of our suite of labour market indicators, alongside workforce jobs, Claimant Count and Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) estimates.
The UK employment rate (based on the LFS) for people aged 16 to 64 years was estimated at 75.0% in December 2025 to February 2026. This is down in the latest quarter but largely unchanged compared with estimates of a year ago.
The UK unemployment rate for people aged 16 years and over was estimated at 4.9% in December 2025 to February 2026. This is down in the latest quarter but above estimates of a year ago.
The UK economic inactivity rate for people aged 16 to 64 years was estimated at 21.0% in December 2025 to February 2026. This is up in the latest quarter but below estimates of a year ago.
The UK Claimant Count for March 2026 increased on the month but decreased on the year to an estimated 1.694 million. The Claimant Count figure for the latest month is provisional and is subject to revisions after first publication. This is the result of later amendments to records in the administrative systems, for example, as work capability assessments conclude and more information is available about benefit claimants' ability to work.
Revisions in recent months have tended to be made downwards, as shown in our
LFS quality update: January 2026
article. Further information on
Claimant Count revisions
is published each month, and our latest
LFS quality update: April 2026
article includes information on definitional differences with LFS unemployment.
The estimated number of vacancies in the UK has decreased in the latest quarter, following broadly flat estimates since March to May 2025. Early estimates for January to March 2026 suggest a decrease of 29,000 (3.9%), to 711,000, compared with October to December 2025, this is the lowest level of vacancies since February to April 2021.
Annual growth in employees' average earnings in Great Britain was 3.6% for regular earnings (excluding bonuses) and 3.8% for total earnings (including bonuses) in December 2025 to February 2026.
Annual average regular earnings growth was 5.2% for the public sector, and 3.2% for the private sector. The public sector annual growth rate has recently been affected by a base effect because of some public sector pay rises being paid earlier in 2025 than in 2024. This effect is now minimal, reaching its peak in the three months to November 2025, and will have worked its way out next month.
We also publish RTI pay data, which provide a provisional, timelier estimate of median pay. The two data sources generally trend well for mean total pay.
Annual growth in real terms, adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers' housing costs (CPIH), was 0.2% for regular pay, and 0.4% for total pay in December 2025 to February 2026.
Annual growth in real terms, adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Prices Index excluding owner occupiers' housing costs (CPI), was 0.4% for regular pay, and 0.7% for total pay in December 2025 to February 2026.
There were an estimated 39,000 working days lost because of labour disputes across the UK in February 2026.
!
This bulletin includes data from business and social surveys, as well as data from administrative sources. It includes a combination of accredited official statistics and official statistics in development, so we advise taking this into consideration when using. Read more in
Section 7: Data sources and quality
.
Nôl i'r tabl cynnwys
This section provides additional commentary to help users assess differences between the employment-related data sources we publish.
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) is our survey of households and remains the lead measure for data on labour market participation. Workforce jobs (WFJ) primarily uses business surveys to measure employee jobs with the LFS covering self-employed jobs. HM Revenue and Customs Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) data come from administrative tax records and cover only payrolled employees.
Because these sources are collected and processed differently, differences in levels are expected (for example, jobs compared with people, or varying reference periods). Divergence across indicators for more than one period is not unusual.
Despite the coherence challenges, the LFS remains the sole source for unemployment, economic inactivity and self-employment data, offering detailed breakdowns unavailable elsewhere.
Recent revisions and improvements
We updated our estimates of WFJ in our March 2026 labour market publication. In the latest period, the employee component of WFJ showed a quarterly increase after two consecutive quarterly decreases. WFJ can sometimes lag other indicators, as seen at the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
As part of ongoing work to address quality concerns with the LFS, response levels and rates have shown clear improvement, with responses now close to their pre-pandemic level. The achieved sample, including imputed cases (the dataset size), has increased from 75,757 individuals in July to September 2025 to 77,927 individuals in October to December 2025, as shown in our
LFS performance and quality monitoring report: October to
December 2025
. Our assessment is that efforts to bolster the achieved sample have improved the quality of the survey and moved the LFS measure of employment closer to levels indicated by RTI (see Figure 1).
These enhancements, introduced since January 2024, mean that movements in the LFS over the past year reflect both underlying developments in the economy and improved survey quality (including obtaining more responses from employed people). As a result, while levels have moved closer to RTI, measures of change may be less aligned with RTI because they capture both real labour market shifts and changes arising from the survey improvements.
Latest employee data
The three employee indicators over a longer time series are shown in Figure 1. RTI and the employee component of WFJ generally follow similar trends but have diverged in some periods.
Coherence between the LFS employees and the other sources has continued to improve in recent periods, although differences do remain. Over the last year, LFS employee-level estimates have aligned more closely with RTI and WFJ, helped by recent operational improvements to the LFS. As movements in the LFS over the past year reflect both underlying developments in the economy and improved survey quality, we continue to advise caution when comparing current LFS results with earlier periods.
Our view remains that RTI currently provides the most reliable measure of employees. The number of RTI employees has fallen since its peak in 2024, and has been broadly flat in recent periods. The latest flash estimate shows a small monthly decrease, although this is subject to revision when more data are received next month.
Figure 1: LFS employees have been converging with RTI and WFJ over the last year
Comparison of employee estimates over time, UK, July to September 2014 to December to February 2026
Source: Labour Force Survey (LFS) and Workforce Jobs (WFJ) from the Office for National Statistics, and Pay As You Earn Real Time Information (RTI) from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
Notes:
Three-month averages of RTI payrolled employees have been used here for comparability.
Workforce jobs are published for the months of March, June, September and December. For presentational purposes, they have been plotted against the middle month of the time period shown. For example, March is plotted against February to April.
Download this chart
Figure 1: LFS employees have been converging with RTI and WFJ over the last year
Image
.csv
.xls
Further information
To deepen our understanding of possible bias in our surveys, we have launched a new project to link LFS and Transformed Labour Force Survey (TLFS) survey data with HMRC PAYE data at the record level.
Alongside the labour market release in April, we have published our
Labour Force Survey quality update: April 2026
article. The article provides information about current response rates, trends and known biases in LFS data, and provides users with information to better understand the current quality of the data.
Nôl i'r tabl cynnwys
Embed code
Embed this interactive
Nôl i'r tabl cynnwys
Summary of labour market statistics
Dataset A01 | Released 21 April 2026
Labour market statistics summary data table, including earnings, employment, unemployment, redundancies and vacancies, Great Britain and UK, published monthly.
Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, seasonally adjusted
Dataset | Released 21 April 2026
Earnings and employment statistics from Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI), UK, NUTS 1, 2 and 3 areas and local authorities, monthly, seasonally adjusted.
A guide to labour market data
Methodology | Last revised 12 August 2025
Summary of labour market datasets, providing estimates of employment, unemployment, average weekly earnings, and the number of vacancies. Tables are listed alphabetically and by topic.
View all related data on our
related data page
.
Alternatively,
Nomis
provides free access to the most detailed and up-to-date UK labour market statistics.
Nôl i'r tabl cynnwys
Average weekly earnings
Average weekly earnings (AWE) are calculated using information based on the Monthly Wages and Salaries Survey (MWSS).
AWE measures money paid by employers to employees in Great Britain before tax and other deductions from pay. The estimates are not just a measure of pay rises, because they also reflect, for example, changes in the overall structure of the workforce. More high-paid jobs in the economy would have an upward effect on the earnings growth rate.
Economic inactivity
People not in the labour force who are not in employment but do not meet the internationally accepted definition of unemployment. This is because they have not been seeking work within the last four weeks or they are unable to start work in the next two weeks. The economic inactivity rate is the proportion of people aged between 16 and 64 years who are not in the labour force. The Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates are
official statistics in
development
.
Employment
Employment measures the number of people in paid work or who had a job that they were temporarily away from (for example, because they were on holiday or off sick). This differs from the number of jobs because some people have more than one job. The employment rate is the proportion of people aged between 16 and 64 years who are in employment. The LFS estimates are official statistics in development.
Unemployment
Unemployment measures people without a job who have been actively seeking work within the last four weeks and are available to start work within the next two weeks. The unemployment rate is not the proportion of the total population who are unemployed. It is the proportion of the economically active population (people in work and those seeking and available to work) who are unemployed. The LFS estimates are official statistics in development.
Claimant Count
The Claimant Count is an official statistic in development that measures the number of people who are receiving a benefit principally for the reason of being unemployed. Currently, the Claimant Count consists of those receiving Jobseeker's Allowance, and Universal Credit claimants in the "searching for work" conditionality group.
Vacancies
Vacancies are defined as positions for which employers are actively seeking recruits from outside their business or organisation. The estimates are based on the Vacancy Survey. This is a survey of businesses designed to provide estimates of the stock of vacancies across the economy, excluding agriculture, forestry and fishing (a small sector for which the collection of estimates would not be practical).
Pay As You Earn Real Time Information
These data come from HM Revenue and Customs' (HMRC's) Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) system. They cover the whole population, rather than a sample of people or companies, and they will allow for more detailed estimates of the population.
In July 2025, the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) published a
letter confirming the accreditation of HMRC
and the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on earnings and employment from PAYE RTI
.
A more detailed glossary is available in our
Guide to labour market statistics
methodology.
Nôl i'r tabl cynnwys
The estimates presented in this bulletin contain uncertainty. For more information, see our
Uncertainty and how we measure it for our surveys
methodology.
Information on revisions is available in our
Labour market statistics revisions policy
.
Information on the strengths and limitations of this bulletin is available in Section 13 of our
Labour market overview, UK: April 2021
bulletin.
Further information is available in our
Guide to labour market statistics
methodology.
Accredited official statistics
On 7 June 2024, the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR) introduced the new accredited official statistics badge, to denote official statistics that have been independently reviewed by the OSR. Accredited official statistics comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the
Code of Practice for Statistics
.
This UK labour market bulletin includes a combination of
accredited official statistics
and
official statistics in
development
(until September 2023, these were called "experimental statistics"). Read more about the change in our
Guide to official statistics in development
.
The following labour market outputs are accredited official statistics:
Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) (accredited by the OSR in
July 2025
)
Labour disputes (rapid review completed by the OSR in February 2023)
Vacancy statistics (reviewed by the OSR in April 2022)
Workforce jobs (WFJ) (reviewed by the OSR in April 2022)
Average weekly earnings (AWE) (reviewed by OSR in December 2014)
The following labour market outputs are official statistics in development:
Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS)
Claimant Count
Labour Force Survey
We have been facing the challenge of falling response rates for household surveys, as have other comparable countries. This issue became more acute in the LFS data collected for August 2023. The LFS estimates due to be published in October 2023 were suspended because of quality concerns. We developed a comprehensive plan to address these concerns and reintroduce LFS, as described in our
Labour Force Survey: planned improvements and its reintroduction
methodology. We reinstated reweighted LFS estimates into our monthly publication from February 2024, as described in our
Impact of reweighting on LFS key indicators: 2024
article. In December 2024, we carried out a
further LFS reweighting exercise, based on 2022 mid-year estimates
.
Estimates from January to March 2025 include the full effect of the improvements in LFS data collection and sampling methods introduced from January 2024. However, since then, we have increased the number of interviewers for the LFS, which has continued to increase the number of responses to the survey. Consequently, estimates may be subject to the effect of these further improvements, which may have an ongoing impact on survey results.
An increased volatility will remain in the LFS estimates for mid-2023 and throughout 2024, so we would advise additional caution when interpreting survey change measures. We recommend using LFS estimates as part of our suite of labour market indicators, alongside workforce jobs, Claimant Count and PAYE RTI estimates.
We are continuing to improve the quality of the LFS, building on our work to date. The achieved sample, including imputed cases (the dataset size), has increased from 75,757 individuals in July to September 2025, to 77,927 individuals in October to December 2025, as shown in our
LFS performance and quality monitoring report: October to December 2025
.
More information on LFS quality can be found in our
LFS quality update: April 2026
article.
Coherence of data sources
Understanding coherence challenges around our employment indicators continues to be a priority.
LFS reweighting has improved the coherence picture, as strong population growth in recent years is now incorporated into our estimates of all three labour market statuses.
We are also exploring how best to consider coherence between HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) PAYE RTI data and WFJ. As the former is essentially focused on employees, we recommend comparison with the employee jobs component of WFJ to align coverage of populations. One other important difference is that the RTI statistics published each month are a measure of people, rather than jobs, as in WFJ.
Our
Comparison of labour market data sources
methodology compares data sources and discusses some of the main differences.
Revisions
For this publication, vacancies estimates have been revised back to the start of the series in 2001. More information on the revisions can be found in our
Vacancies and jobs in the UK: April 2026
bulletin.
Our
Employment in the UK: April 2026
bulletin includes revisions of Claimant Count estimates back to January 2023 because of the implementation of a seasonal adjustment review.
Labour market transformation
We have provided an update on the transformation of labour market statistics in our
Labour market transformation update on progress and plans: April 2026
article.
We welcome your feedback on this latest update and our plans. Please email us at labour.market. transformation@ons.gov.uk to tell us what you think.
Coronavirus
For more information on how labour market data sources were affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, see our
Coronavirus and the effects on UK labour market statistics
article.
Making our published spreadsheets accessible
Following the
Government Statistical Service (GSS) guidance on releasing statistics in spreadsheets
, we will be amending our published tables over the coming months to improve the usability, accessibility and machine readability of our published statistics. To help users change to the new formats, we will be publishing
sample versions of a selection of our tables
and, where practical, we will initially publish the tables in both the new and current formats. If you have any questions or comments, please email us at labour.market@ons.gov.uk.
Nôl i'r tabl cynnwys
ONS economic statistics and surveys improvement plan, quarterly progress update: April 2026
Article | Released 15 April 2026
Progress across the ONS against our recovery plans for improving our economic statistics and surveys, between December 2025 and March 2026.
Labour market transformation - update on progress and plans: April 2026
Article | Released 15 April 2026
Labour market transformation overview, building on previous engagement on the Transformed Labour Force Survey.
Economic activity and social change in the UK, real-time indicators: 19 March 2026
Bulletin | Released 19 March 2026
Data on the UK economy and society. These faster indicators are created using rapid response surveys, novel data sources, and innovative methods. These are official statistics in development.
Business insights and impact on the UK economy: 2 April 2026
Bulletin | Released 2 April 2026
The impact of challenges facing the economy and other events on UK businesses, including financial performance, workforce, trade, and business resilience.
Labour Force Survey performance and quality monitoring report: October to December 2025
Methodology | Released 17 February 2026
Response rates, sample size and quality assessment of our quarterly Labour Force Survey.
Labour Force Survey quality update: April 2026
Article | Released 21 April 2026
Assessment of Labour Force Survey data quality, including the impact of recent changes on the statistics, response levels and rates, and respondent characteristics.
Nôl i'r tabl cynnwys
Office for National Statistics (ONS), released 21 April 2026, ONS website, statistical bulletin,
Labour market overview, UK: April 2026
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Labour Market team
labour.market@ons.gov.uk
Ffôn: +44 1633 455400