LONDON, Nov. 12 (Xinhua) -- Britain's unemployment rate rose to 5 percent in the three months to September (Q3), the highest in almost a decade outside the pandemic period, according to data released Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The jobless rate for people aged 16 and over increased during the quarter and stood above the level a year earlier, the ONS said. Meanwhile, the employment rate for those aged 16 to 64 fell to 75 percent. Economic inactivity was estimated at 21.0 percent, largely unchanged from the previous quarter.
Payroll employment also continued to decline. The number of payrolled employees fell by 117,000, or 0.4 percent, between September 2024 and September 2025, and by 32,000 between August and September this year. Early estimates for October suggest a further decrease of 180,000 over the year to 30.3 million, although the ONS said these figures remain provisional.
Average earnings growth slowed in line with expectations. Regular pay excluding bonuses rose 4.6 percent in the July-to-September period, down from 4.8 percent previously, while total pay including bonuses increased 4.8 percent. Adjusted for inflation, real regular pay grew 0.5 percent.
The number of job vacancies was broadly stable, up slightly by 2,000 to 723,000 in the period between August and October. Around 39,000 working days were lost to labor disputes in September, the ONS added.
Economists said the figures point to a cooling labor market and could reinforce expectations that the Bank of England may soon start cutting interest rates.
Business groups said weak hiring reflected employers' caution ahead of the government's upcoming Budget on Nov. 26. "Employers are being squeezed by high employment costs, and we are beginning to see the consequences," said Jane Gratton, deputy director of public policy at the British Chambers of Commerce.
The data came as the government faces pressure to balance its pledge to support growth with the need to plug a fiscal shortfall estimated at around 30 billion pounds (around 39.54 billion U.S. dollars). (1 pound = 1.32 U.S. dollar) ■