Unemployment: August 2018

Estimates of unemployment for the UK.

This page is part of the latest labour market collection

Release date: 14 August 2018

Release frequency: Monthly

Next release: 11 September 2018

Unemployment rate is at lowest since the mid-1970s

January to March 1971 to April to June 2018, seasonally adjusted

Source: Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics

In April to June 2018 there were 1.36 million unemployed people, 65,000 fewer than for January to March 2018 and 124,000 fewer than a year earlier.

Rob Kent Smith, Head of National Accounts

Pages in this collection:

UK unemployment continues to fall

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.

As shown in our main chart (which shows unemployment rates for people, men and women), the lowest unemployment rate for people since comparable records began in 1971 was 3.4% in late 1973 to early 1974 and the highest rate, 11.9%, was in 1984 during the economic downturn of the early 1980s. The unemployment rate for people for the latest time period, April to June 2018, was 4.0%, the lowest since the mid-1970s.

The longer picture for UK unemployment rates (people aged 16 years and over)

April to June 2013 to April to June 2018, seasonally adjusted

Source: Labour Force Survey, Office for National Statistics

Download this chart

For April to June 2018:

the unemployment rate for people was 4.0%; it has not been lower since December 1974 to February 1975
the unemployment rate for men was 4.0%; it has not been lower since April to June 1975
the unemployment rate for women was 4.0%; the lowest since comparable records began in 1971

For April to June 2018, there were:

1.36 million unemployed people, 124,000 fewer than for a year earlier and the lowest since November 1975 to January 1976
721,000 unemployed men, 97,000 fewer than for a year earlier and the lowest since August to October 1975
639,000 unemployed women, 27,000 fewer than for a year earlier and the lowest since September to November 2005

Looking at unemployment by how long people have been out of work and seeking work, for April to June 2018, there were:

795,000 people who had been unemployed for up to six months, 81,000 fewer than for a year earlier
209,000 people who had been unemployed for between six months and one year, 26,000 fewer than for a year earlier
356,000 people who had been unemployed for over one year, 18,000 fewer than for a year earlier

Unemployment data

View all data

Where to find data about unemployment

Unemployment estimates for the UK are available in dataset UNEM01 SA.
Estimates of employment UK and non-UK workers are available at Non-UK workers in the labour market and at datasets A12 and EMP06.
Historic estimates of unemployment (which do not have National Statistics status) have been published by the Bank of England in the spreadsheet A millennium of macroeconomic data version 3.1 (in worksheets A49 and A50).
International comparisons of employment rates are available at dataset A10.

Using employment data

Glossary

Unemployment
The number of unemployed people in the UK is measured through the Labour Force Survey (LFS) following the internationally agreed definition recommended by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) – an agency of the United Nations. Unemployed people are without a job, have actively sought work in the last four weeks and are available to start work in the next two weeks; or are out of work, have found a job and are waiting to start it in the next two weeks

Unemployment rate
The headline unemployment rate is calculated by dividing the unemployment level for those aged 16 and over by the total number of economically active people aged 16 and over. Economically active is defined as those in employment plus those who are unemployed.

How do we measure this?

The unemployment rate is not the proportion of the total population who are unemployed. It is the proportion of the economically active population (those in work plus those seeking and available to work) who are unemployed. This follows guidelines specified by the International Labour Organisation and it ensures that UK unemployment statistics are broadly comparable with those published by other countries.

What do you need to know?

People not working are classed as unemployed if they have been looking for work within the last four weeks and are able to start work within the next two weeks. A common misconception is that the unemployment statistics are a count of people on benefits; this is not the case as they include unemployed people not claiming benefits.

Jobless people who have not been looking for work within the last four weeks or who are unable to start work within the next two weeks are classed as economically inactive. Examples of economically inactive people include people not looking for work because they are students, looking after the family or home, because of illness or disability or because they have retired.

Where to find explanatory information
A Guide to labour market statistics, which includes a Glossary, is available.

More about the labour market

Labour market economic commentary

Published every month on the same day as this release.
Single month Labour Force Survey estimates

This monthly article helps us to understand the movements in the three-month average Labour Force Survey estimates.

Contact us

Richard Clegg
labour.market@ons.gov.uk
+44 (0)1633 455400