FX.co ★ UK Jobless Rate Hits Nearly 5-Year High

The UK unemployment rate rose to 5.2% in the three months to December 2025, slightly above market expectations, which had anticipated it would remain unchanged at 5.1% from the previous period. This is the highest level recorded since the three months to February 2021. Total unemployment increased by 94,000 quarter-on-quarter to 1.883 million, with gains across short-, medium-, and long-term unemployment categories. At the same time, total employment grew by 52,000 to 34.244 million, although the employment rate edged down by 0.1 percentage points to 75.0%. The number of people holding second jobs fell slightly to 1.287 million, representing 3.8% of those in employment. The economic inactivity rate decreased by 0.1 percentage points to 20.8%, as the number of inactive individuals declined by 38,000 to 9.042 million.