Employment in the UK: November 2024

Other commentary from the latest labour market data can be found on the following pages:

• Labour market overview

• Average weekly earnings in Great Britain

• Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK

• Labour market in the regions of the UK

• Vacancies and jobs in the UK

• Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates have been affected by increased volatility, resulting from smaller achieved sample sizes, meaning that estimates of change should be treated with additional caution, and we recommend using them as part of our suite of labour market indicators alongside Workforce Jobs (WFJ), Claimant Count data, and Pay As You Earn Real Time Information (PAYE RTI) estimates.

• The longer-term broad coherence between WFJ and RTI when looking at annual change suggests that these sources are likely to be providing a more reliable estimate of employment, particularly for employees; these sources continue to indicate that we have seen a sustained moderation of growth in employment over the last year.

• Despite these coherence challenges, the LFS continues to be the sole source of data for unemployment, economic inactivity and self-employment, and provides a range of breakdowns that are only possible from LFS data.

• As external sources are suggesting that recent increases in LFS measures of employment are likely to be overstating underlying employment growth, we expect that underlying changes in the other labour market statuses will also be affected; the more modest growth we see in alternative employment sources may indicate that unemployment and economic inactivity have moved less than the LFS has recently suggested.

• It is also likely that some of the recent movements in LFS estimates are being affected by the increased sample size and change in data collection methods taken over the last year, in addition to any underlying changes in the labour market.

• LFS estimates have been weighted to population estimates published in November 2023 for periods from July to September 2022; headline UK seasonally adjusted series prior to this have been modelled, but other series have a discontinuity at this point.

• In the year to July to September 2024, the UK employment rate was largely unchanged at 74.8%, the UK unemployment rate increased to 4.3%, and the UK economic inactivity rate decreased to 21.8%

Latest Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates are based on interviews that took place from July to September 2024.

Because of coronavirus (COVID-19) and the suspension of face-to-face interviewing, we had to make operational changes to the LFS, which moved to a by-telephone approach. This introduced an increased non-response bias to the survey, which was partially mitigated by the introduction of housing tenure-based weights into the survey in October 2020, as detailed in our Coronavirus and its impact on the Labour Force Survey article.

However, it was acknowledged that further improvement work was required to deal with the increase in non-response from those with a non-UK country of birth or nationality. As a result, an adjusted Labour Force Survey weighting methodology was introduced in July 2021. Further information is available in our Impact of reweighting on Labour Force Survey key indicators: 2022 article.

From our February 2024 labour market release, LFS periods from July to September 2022 onwards have been reweighted to incorporate estimates of the size and composition of the UK population published in November 2023. This reweighting creates a discontinuity between June to August 2022 and July to September 2022. Users should take this discontinuity into consideration when considering long-term movements in the series.

However, we have modelled the seasonally adjusted UK levels of employment, unemployment and economic inactivity by sex and age band back to the start of the population revisions in June to August 2011. This has been done by scaling to the population estimates used from July to September 2022, while taking account of the relative revisions to population by sex and age band in each year over the revision period. This ensures that the headline series in Table 1, Table 2 (1) and Table 2 (2) (also available in A02SA, A05SA, and A01 Tables 1 and 2) are comparable over the full series. Further information is available in our Impact of reweighting on Labour Force Survey key indicators: 2024 article.

This reweighting does not address the volatility seen in recent periods and this may be seen, to some extent, in the future. Therefore, we advise increased caution when interpreting changes in series and recommend using them as part of a suite of labour market indicators, alongside Workforce Jobs (WFJ), Claimant Count data and Pay As You Earn Real Time Information (PAYE RTI) estimates.

The longer-term, broad coherence between WFJ and RTI when looking at annual change suggests that these sources are likely to be providing a more reliable estimate of employment, particularly for employees. These sources continue to indicate that we have seen a sustained moderation of growth in employment over the last year. These two sources also show less volatility than the LFS over the same time period. 

Despite these coherence challenges, the LFS continues to be the sole source of data for unemployment, economic inactivity and the self-employed. There are also a range of breakdowns that are only possible from LFS data. 

As external sources are suggesting that recent increases in LFS measures of employment are likely to be overstating underlying employment growth, we expect that underlying changes in the other labour market statuses will also be affected. For example, the more modest growth we see in alternative employment sources may indicate that unemployment and economic inactivity may have moved less than the LFS has recently suggested.

It is also likely that some of the recent movements in LFS estimates are being affected by the increased sample size and change in data collection methods taken over the last year, in addition to any underlying changes in the labour market.

The wave structure of the LFS means that any changes in sampling can take a substantial period of time to fully feed through the survey. We interview sampled households at quarterly intervals for five consecutive quarters. Any given three-month dataset includes respondents completing their first, second, third, fourth or fifth interview (often called "waves").

Between July and December 2023, the Wave 1 sample for the LFS was reduced to its pre-coronavirus level, before the boost was reinstated from January 2024. This reduction in the sample stays in our LFS datasets for five quarters, as these smaller cohorts progress through subsequent waves, all the way to Wave 5. From July 2024, the smaller cohorts are steadily being replaced by boosted cohorts. However, it will not be until the January to March 2025 period (published in May 2025) when LFS data only include boosted cohorts.

We are continuing to improve the quality of the LFS, building on our work to date. This has led to an increase in achieved interviews, from 44,238 in July to September 2023 to 59,139 in July to September 2024, as shown in our LFS performance and quality monitoring report: July to September 2024. Work is also under way to carry out a further reweighting of our LFS estimates, detailed in our Labour market transformation article. An Impact of reweighting on Labour Force Survey key indicators article will be published on 3 December 2024, and the reweighted estimates will be incorporated into our next Labour market release on 17 December 2024, which we anticipate will improve coherence between LFS and other sources. With this work ongoing, we advise caution particularly when interpreting short-term change in the LFS and encourage users to make use of a wide range of data sources where possible.

LFS estimates are currently not considered accredited official statistics and are currently designated as official statistics in development.

Following an increase in the employment rate since early 2012, the rate decreased from the start of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. There was generally an increase from the end of 2020, followed by an overall decrease between mid-2023 and early 2024. The rate has largely been increasing since. Over the year since July to September 2023, the employment rate has been largely unchanged, although it increased in the latest quarter (July to September 2024).

Over the year since July to September 2023, the number of full-time employees increased, but this was offset by decreases in part-time employees and the self-employed.

Following decreases since mid-2023, the number of people with second jobs has increased on the year since July to September 2023. However, it fell in the latest quarter (July to September 2024), to 1.25 million (3.7% of people in employment).

We also publish estimates of payrolled employees in our Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK bulletin and estimates of the number of jobs in our Vacancies and jobs in the UK bulletin.

Hours worked

The number of total actual weekly hours worked has generally been increasing since 2020, but was largely flat during 2023. Total actual weekly hours worked increased over the year since July to September 2023, and in the latest quarter (July to September 2024). Both men and women's working hours increased over the year and in the latest quarter.

Average actual weekly hours worked increased on the year and on the quarter.

Following decreases in the unemployment rate since late 2013, the unemployment rate increased during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. From early 2021, it decreased to below pre-coronavirus rates until mid-2022. The unemployment rate has largely been increasing since then, despite a period of decrease during the latter half of 2023. Over the year since July to September 2023, and in the latest quarter (July to September 2024) the unemployment rate increased.

The number of people unemployed for up to six months decreased since July to September 2023, but increased in the latest quarter (July to September 2024). Those unemployed for over six months remain above estimates a year ago, and increased in the latest quarter.

We also publish the Claimant Count, a measure of the number of people who are receiving a benefit principally for the reason of being unemployed. Claimant Count statistics are currently designated as official statistics in development. The UK Claimant Count for October 2024 increased on the month and on the year, to 1.806 million.

Since comparable records began in 1971, the economic inactivity rate had generally been falling. However, it increased during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and fluctuated around this increased rate. Over the year since July to September 2023 and in the latest quarter, July to September 2024, the economic inactivity rate decreased.

Increases in economic inactivity in the first year of the pandemic were largely among those aged 16 to 24 years. Following the pandemic, increases were largely among those aged 50 to 64 years.

Over the year from July to September 2023, the economic inactivity rate fell for most age groups. The exceptions were those aged 16 to 17 years, for whom it increased over the year, and those aged 25 to 34 years, for whom it was largely unchanged on the year. The economic inactivity rate for all age groups decreased in the latest quarter (July to September 2024).

The annual decrease in economic inactivity (from July to September 2023) was largely a result of of those who were economically inactive, because they were looking after the family or home, or who were economically inactive for other reasons. The quarterly decrease was also largely a result of of those who were economically inactive because they were looking after the family or home, or because they were students.

We also publish estimates of economic inactivity by reason and age from the Annual Population Survey (APS). Latest APS estimates, up to July 2023 to June 2024, show the majority of those who were inactive because of long-term sickness were aged 50 to 64 years, although long-term sickness increased across all age groups during the year to June 2024.

APS estimates are currently not considered accredited official statistics and are currently designated as official statistics in development.

APS estimates have not been reweighted to the same populations as the Labour Force Survey (LFS). Consequently, all APS tables remain weighted to the previous population totals, which will be inconsistent with those used for the LFS in the latest periods. More information on the relationship between the APS and LFS is available in our Comparison of labour market data sources methodology.

The number of people reporting redundancy in the three months before interview increased over the year since July to September 2023, but decreased in the latest quarter (July to September 2024) to 3.1 per thousand employees.

We also publish our HR1: Potential redundancies dataset. This shows potential redundancies and includes those notified by employers to the Insolvency Service through the form, broken down by region and industry.

From 14 May 2024, we have reinstated our estimates of labour market flows from the longitudinal Labour Force Survey (LFS). Estimates of labour market flows from January to March 2024 are weighted in line with the quarterly LFS estimates. These estimates should be treated with additional caution because of the increased volatility resulting from smaller achieved sample sizes.

No revisions are being made to previous periods, and estimates that were previously suspended remain suspended. As a result, seasonally adjusted flows estimates are not available.

Flows estimates show that, between April to June 2024 and July to September 2024, there were net movements from economic inactivity into unemployment, and from unemployment into employment. There was also a net movement from economic inactivity into employment.

Actual and usual hours worked

Statistics for usual hours worked measure how many hours people usually work per week. Compared with actual hours worked, they are not affected by absences and so can provide a better measure of normal working patterns. For example, a person who usually works 37 hours a week but who was on holiday for a week would be recorded as working zero actual hours for that week, while usual hours would be recorded as 37 hours.

Workers temporarily absent from a job as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic would still be classed as employed; however, they would be employed working no hours. This has directly affected estimates of total actual hours worked during the coronavirus pandemic. Since the average actual weekly hours are the average of all in employment, those temporarily absent from a job also affected these estimates.

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 Jobseekers' Allowance, and Universal Credit claimants in the "searching for work" conditionality group.

Economic inactivity

People not in the labour force (also known as economically inactive) who are not in employment but do not meet the internationally accepted definition of unemployment because they have not been seeking work within the last four weeks and/or 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.

Employment

The term 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.

Workers furloughed under the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme (CJRS), or those who were self-employed but temporarily not in work, had a reasonable expectation of returning to their jobs after a temporary period of absence. Therefore, they were classified as employed under the International Labour Organization (ILO) definition.

A more detailed explanation is available in our Guide to labour market statistics.

Redundancies

The redundancy estimates measure the number of people who were made redundant or who took voluntary redundancy in the three months before the Labour Force Survey (LFS) interviews; it does not take into consideration planned redundancies.

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 that is unemployed. It is the proportion of the economically active population (that is, those in work plus those seeking and available to work) that is unemployed.

A more detailed glossary is available.

This bulletin uses data collected from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), the largest household survey in the UK.

Official statistics in development

These statistics are labelled as "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.

These statistics are based on information from the LFS. The reweighting exercise has improved the representativeness of our LFS estimates for periods from July to September 2022, reducing potential bias in our estimates. Nonetheless, the ongoing challenges with response rates and levels mean that LFS-based labour market statistics are now badged as official statistics in development until further review. This is also in line with the letter from the Office for Statistics Regulation (OSR), stating that LFS statistics should not be published as accredited official statistics until OSR has reviewed them.

We would advise caution when interpreting short-term changes in headline LFS rates and recommend using them as part of our suite of labour market indicators alongside Workforce Jobs (WFJ), Claimant Count data and Pay As You Earn Real Time Information (PAYE RTI) estimates. 

We are transforming how we collect and produce the LFS data to improve the quality of these statistics. We have published a Labour market transformation article providing an update on the transformation of labour market statistics. As stated in the article, we are planning a further reweighting exercise, based on the population projections published in January 2024. We plan to introduce the reweighted LFS series into our Labour Market publication in December 2024.

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our Labour Force Survey quality and methodology information (QMI) report.

The LFS performance and quality monitoring reports provide data on response rates, quality analysis, and survey operation changes for the LFS.

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Read more about how the labour market data sources are affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in our Coronavirus and the effects on UK labour market statistics article.

For a comparison of our labour market data sources and the main differences, read our Comparison of labour market data sources methodology.

Making our published spreadsheets accessible

Following the Government Statistical Service (GSS) guidance on releasing statistics in speadsheets, 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, initially publish the tables in both the new and current formats. If you have any questions or comments, please email labour.market@ons.gov.uk.

Strengths and limitations

Uncertainty in these data

The estimates presented in this bulletin contain uncertainty. For more information on uncertainty, please see our Uncertainty and how we measure it for our surveys web page.

The figures in this bulletin come from the LFS, which gathers information from a sample of households across the UK rather than from the whole population. The sample is designed to be as accurate as possible, given practical limitations. Results from sample surveys are always estimates, not precise figures. This can have an impact on how changes in the estimates should be interpreted, especially for short-term comparisons. For more information on sampling, see Section 2 of our Uncertainty and how we measure it for our surveys webpage.

As the sample gets smaller, the variability of the estimates gets larger. Estimates for small groups, which are based on small subsets of the LFS sample, are less reliable and tend to be more volatile than for larger aggregated groups.

In general, changes in the numbers (and especially the rates) reported in this bulletin between quarters are small and are not usually greater than the level that can be explained by sampling variability. Short-term movements in reported rates should be considered alongside longer-term patterns in the series and corresponding movements in other sources to give a fuller picture.

Information on the quality of estimates is available in our Labour Force Survey sampling variability table.

Comparability

The data in this bulletin follow internationally accepted definitions specified by the International Labour Organization (ILO). This ensures that the estimates for the UK are comparable with those for other countries.

Our annual Reconciliation of estimates of jobs article compares the latest workforce jobs series estimates with the equivalent estimates of jobs from the LFS. It is usually published in March each year, following the benchmarking of Workforce Jobs.

Further information is available in our Guide to labour market statistics.