UK unemployment rises to 5.1% in August-October, highest since Jan. 2021

ISTANBUL

Unemployment in the UK rose to 5.1% in the August-October period, official data released on Tuesday showed.

The figure reached its highest level since January 2021, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) data.

The unemployment rate for people aged 16 years and over rose from 5% in the previous quarter.

The number of unemployed persons amounted to around 1.8 million as of October.

The unemployment rate was 4.3% in the August-October period of last year.

The employment rate, meanwhile, was 75%, with payrolled employees amounting to 30.3 million as of October.

Estimates for employees in the country fell by 180,000, or 0.6%, between October 2024 and October 2025, and by 32,000 (0.1%) between September and October.

When looking at August to October, employees fell by 109,000 (0.4%) over the year and by 26,000 (0.1%) over the quarter.