The United Kingdom’s labour market showed further signs of weakening in the three months to March, with the unemployment rate rising and payroll employment continuing to decline, according to data released by the Office for National Statistics on Tuesday.
The UK ILO Unemployment Rate climbed to 5.0% in the three months to March, up from 4.9% in the previous reading.
The figure also came in above market expectations of 4.9%.
At the same time, the number of people claiming jobless benefits increased by 26,500 in April.
This compared with a revised rise of 4,900 in March and was slightly below expectations for a 27,300 increase.
However, the Employment Change data showed stronger hiring activity during March.
Employment increased by 148,000 during the period, compared with a rise of 25,000 recorded in February.
Payrolled employment declines
Early estimates for April 2026 indicated that the number of payrolled employees stood at 30.2 million.
This marked a decline of 0.7% from April 2025, equivalent to 210,000 fewer employees.
The wholesale and retail sector recorded the largest fall in employee numbers, with payrolls declining by 76,000.
In contrast, the health and social work sector posted the biggest increase, adding 24,000 employees.
On a monthly basis, payrolled employment fell by 100,000 employees, or 0.3%, in April compared with March 2026.
The ONS cautioned that the April figures should be treated as provisional estimates and are likely to be revised as more data becomes available next month.
The agency also noted that early months in the tax year tend to carry a greater degree of uncertainty in initial estimates.
These estimates have received larger-than-average upward revisions in recent years.
March payroll data revised lower
The revised March 2026 payroll figures are lower following the incorporation of additional real-time information submissions.
UK payrolled employee growth for March 2026 compared with February 2026 was revised from a decline of 11,000 reported in the previous bulletin to a decline of 28,000.
The ONS said the revisions reflected the incorporation of additional real-time information submissions into the statistics, reducing the need for imputation.
Wage growth remains firm
Despite weakness in employment data, wage growth remained relatively steady.
Early estimates for April 2026 indicated that median monthly pay increased by 4.9% compared with April 2025.
Among sectors, annual growth in median pay was highest in the health and social work sector, which recorded an increase of 6.8%.
Meanwhile, the finance and insurance sector posted the weakest annual pay growth, with median pay rising by 3.1%.
ONS highlights provisional nature of estimates
The ONS stated that the early estimates for April 2026 are based on around 85% of available information and are therefore subject to revision in next month’s bulletin, when between 98% and 99% of data is expected to be available.
The statistics in the bulletin are based on people employed in at least one job paid through Pay As You Earn.
Monthly estimates reflect the average number of such employees for each day of the calendar month.
The ONS added that the estimates are compiled using a methodology designed to align with international guidelines for labour market statistics.
The post UK unemployment rate rises to 5.0% as payrolls decline in April appeared first on Invezz
