Out of work benefits

Claimants of unemployment related benefits including Employment and Support Allowance and other incapacity benefits, and Income Support and Pension Credit.

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Claimant Count : K02000001 UK : People : SA : Thousands

1,691.6

2026 FEB

Release date:
19 March 2026
Next release:
21 April 2026
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Labour market overview, UK: March 2026

What's in the bulletin?

  • Estimates for payrolled employees in the UK fell by 96,000 (0.3%) between January 2025 and January 2026, but increased by 6,000 (0.0%) between December 2025 and January 2026. This is based on administrative data from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
  • When looking at November 2025 to January 2026, the period comparable with our Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates, the number of payrolled employees fell by 109,000 (0.4%) over the year and by 31,000 (0.1%) over the quarter.
  • The early estimate of payrolled employees for February 2026 decreased by 49,000 (0.2%) on the year, but increased by 20,000 (0.1%) on the month, to 30.3 million. The February 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 article.
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