Out of work benefits

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

Spotlight

Claimant Count : K02000001 UK : People : SA : Thousands

1,698.9

2026 APR

Release date:
19 May 2026
Next release:
18 June 2026
View this data
More data

Labour market overview, UK: May 2026

What's in the bulletin?

  • Estimates for payrolled employees in the UK fell by 104,000 (0.3%) between March 2025 and March 2026, and decreased by 28,000 (0.1%) between February and March 2026. This is based on administrative data from HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC).
  • When looking at January to March 2026, the period comparable with our Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates, the number of payrolled employees fell by 94,000 (0.3%) over the year and by 20,000 (0.1%) over the quarter.
  • The early estimate of payrolled employees for April 2026 decreased by 210,000 (0.7%) on the year, and by 100,000 (0.3%) on the month, to 30.2 million. Figures for April should be treated as provisional estimates and are likely to be revised when more data are received next month. Early months in the tax year typically carry a greater degree of uncertainty in their initial estimates, and such estimates in recent years have received larger-than-average upward revisions. Information on revisions to payrolled employees is published monthly. We have published analysis of recent revisions in our LFS quality update: January 2026 article.
Read this statistical bulletin
More publications
Back to top

Time series related to Out of work benefits

View all time series related to Out of work benefits Back to top

Datasets related to Out of work benefits

View all datasets related to Out of work benefits Back to top

Publications related to Out of work benefits

Statistical bulletins

View all related statistical bulletins
Back to top

Methodology related to Out of work benefits

View all related methodology

Explore local statistics

Find, compare and visualise statistics about places within the United Kingdom.