Working and workless households in the UK: July to September 2024

• Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates have been affected by increased volatility, resulting from smaller achieved sample sizes; this means 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 (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) estimates.

• The longer-term broad coherence between WFJ and RTI, when looking at annual change, suggests that these sources are likely to provide 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.

• LFS household estimates have been weighted to population estimates published in November 2023 for periods from October to December 2023 onwards; a discontinuity has been introduced at this point, so comparisons before this point are not possible. 

• Of the estimated 21.4 million households (where at least one member is aged 16 to 64 years) in the UK, 59.3% had all household members aged 16 years and over in employment during July to September 2024; there were an estimated 26.8% of households with a mix of at least one working and one workless adult and an estimated 13.9% of households where no member of the household was in employment.

Labour Force Survey (LFS) household datasets are used for analysis of family or household characteristics. For all analysis in this bulletin, a household is defined as containing at least one person aged 16 to 64 years. This bulletin focuses on the economic status of household members. For example:

• number of people in employment in the household

• number of people unemployed in the household

• number of people economically inactive in the household

Our Comparison of labour market data sources methodology, published on 27 April 2022, compares our labour market data sources and discusses some of the main differences.

LFS household estimates from October to December 2023 onwards have been reweighted to information on the size and composition of the UK population, consistent with the population estimates published in November 2023. This reweighting creates a discontinuity from October to December 2023 onwards. Users should account for this discontinuity when considering movements in the series. Household estimates for July to September 2023 are not currently available. All estimates in this release are not seasonally adjusted.

Reweighting the LFS does not address the volatility seen in recent periods and that may be seen to some extent in the future. Therefore, we advise increased caution when interpreting changes in the series.

Increased volatility of LFS estimates, resulting from smaller achieved sample sizes, means that estimates of change should be treated with additional caution. 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 (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) estimates.

The longer-term broad coherence between WFJ and RTI, when looking at annual change, suggests that these sources are likely to provide 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.

For further information, please see our Impact of reweighting on Labour Force Survey key indicators: 2024 article.

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 household estimates for periods from October to December 2023, reducing potential bias in our estimates. Nonetheless, the ongoing challenges with response rates and levels mean that LFS-based labour market statistics are now 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 the OSR has reviewed them.