Labour Market Statistics + Reactions

UK Labour Market: April 2026

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Pat McFadden, said:

"These figures show that there was an improvement in the labour market at the beginning of the year with unemployment falling below 5%, and 332,000 more people in work than a year ago.

“But we cannot escape the effects of the war in the Middle East which are likely to feed through to prices and employment in the coming months. We will do everything we can to support the country through this period, including by slashing energy bills by up to 25% for 10,000 manufacturers.

“And we're focusing on future proofing and upskilling our workforce through our £2.5 billion investment to get more young people earning and learning alongside personalised support to help sick or disabled people who had previously been written off.”

Background:

• The unemployment rate is down 0.2% points on the quarter to 4.9% (down 0.2% points on the month).
• Since July 2024, real wages have grown more under this government than the first ten years of the last government.
• We want to incentivise businesses to back young talent – which is why we're offering relief on National Insurance contributions for employing anyone aged under 21 – and the Treasury has extended this scheme for another year.
• The UK has the 3rd highest employment rate in the G7.
• The UK's employment rate is in the top half of OECD economies and is above the G7 average (of 73.1%). The UK's unemployment rate remains relatively low by international standards, in the bottom half of the OECD and lower than Canada, France, Italy and the EU27 average.
• The Government has announced that electricity bills will be cut by up to 25% for over 10,000 businesses through the new British Industrial Competitiveness Scheme. Government cuts electricity bill for 10,000 manufacturers in boost for UK competitiveness
• The number of employers and mayoral authorities committed to tackling one of the biggest issues facing the labour market has more than doubled since the publication of the Keep Britain Working Review in November 2025. Support for Keep Britain Working ramps up across employers and regions - GOV.UK
• The government recently announced that hundreds of thousands of sick or disabled people will be offered voluntary help towards employment. Thousands to be supported into work as government reforms welfare system - GOV.UK

Conservative Party

Helen Whately MP, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said:

“This month's dip in unemployment is outweighed by the rise in people who are economically inactive, who have left the labour market altogether. More people are giving up on work and signing onto sickness benefits.

“Payrolled jobs and vacancies are down too. Labour's taxes and red tape have killed opportunity for many thousands of people.

“Labour are too distracted by scandals of their own making to cut a benefits bill that is completely out of control. Labour are taxing work and rewarding inactivity, and working people are paying the price.

“Only the Conservatives are offering a serious alternative that backs work, rewards ambition, and gets Britain working again.”

Andrew Griffith MP, Shadow Business Secretary, said:

“Today's figures do not change the fact that businesses across the county remain deeply concerned about Labour's direction of travel.

“The Employment Rights Act is already increasing costs and complexity for employers and risks choking off future job creation when we are already seeing young people struggling to find jobs. Any improvement we see today is despite Labour's policies, not because of them.

“Only the Conservatives will repeal the job destroying elements of the Employment Rights Act and Get Britian Working Again.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show unemployment is rising:

• The unemployment rate is 4.9 per cent, highest than the time of the General Election. In the period December 2025 to February 2026, unemployment hit 4.9 per cent, which is up from 4.2 per cent at the time of the General Election. Additionally, the November 2025 Economic and Fiscal Outlook raised the forecast unemployment rate for each year from 2026 through 2029 (ONS, Labour Market Statistics, 21 April 2026, link).

• This month's fall in unemployment is outweighed by the rise in those economically inactive and have left the labour market altogether. In the three months to February 2026, there were 88,658 fewer unemployed people, compared with 115,575 more economically inactive individuals (ONS, Labour Market Statistics, 21 April 2026, link).

Labour's choices have increased unemployment:

• Despite pledging to ‘not increase taxes on working people', Labour have hiked taxes by £60 billion, pushing the tax burden to a record high. The Labour Party Manifesto for the 2024 General Election said: ‘Labour will not increase taxes on working people'. However, Labour's first two Budgets have increased taxes by £36 billion and £26 billion respectively, pushing the tax burden to a historic high of 38.3 per cent of GDP (The Labour Party, Change, 13 June 2024, link; OBR, Economic and Fiscal Outlook, 26 November 2025, link).

• Rachel Reeves introduced a Jobs Tax – a tax hike that will cost employers £900 per employee each year. The IFS has warned that Labour's Jobs Tax that will increase the cost of employment by £900 for the average worker (IFS, Autumn Budget 2024, 31 October 2024, link).

Only the Conservatives have a plan to make work pay:

• We will break Labour's doom loop with our Golden Economic Rule and plan to save £47 billion.Under our Golden Economic Rule, for every pound saved, at least half will go to cutting the deficit, with the remainder being used to get our economy moving.

• We will cut tax – backing business and making work pay. At Conservative Party Conference, we announced our plan to:

• Abolish Stamp Duty on primary residences, helping more families achieve the dream of home ownership. Under our plan, Stamp Duty Land Tax, which is paid when you buy a property or land in England and Northern Ireland, will be abolished for primary residences.

• Abolish Business Rates for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure businesses, benefitting 250,000 businesses and reviving our high streets. We would introduce permanent 100 per cent business rates relief for Retail, Hospitality and Leisure businesses – benefitting 250,000 businesses (HMT, Press Release, 13 November 2024, link).

• Introduce a £5,000 First Jobs Bonus, backing the next generation. Under our plan, the first £5,000 of National Insurance paid by any British citizen starting their first job will be placed into a personal savings account – earmarked for a first home deposit or future savings.

• We will repeal every job-destroying, anti-business, anti-growth measure in the Employment Rights Bill. This is because we recognise Britain cannot prosper with a state that smothers ambition, and a labour market designed solely for union bosses, rather than for the millions of people who want to work, hire, build, and grow (The Standard, 24 November 2025, link).

The Conservatives left a strong labour market and a strong economy:

• When we left office, there were four million more people in work than in 2010, as we grew the economy and created more jobs. In April to June 2024, there were over 33 million people in work in the UK, up by over 4 million since 2010, and the employment rate 4.2 percentage points higher than 2010 (ONS, Labour Market Overview, 13 August 2024, link). 

• When we left office, the unemployment rate had nearly halved with over 1 million people unemployed than in 2010, as we backed businesses, grew the economy, and got more people into work. In April to June 2024, the unemployment rate was 4.2 per cent, down by 3.8 points since 2010 (ONS, Labour Market Overview, 13 August 2024, link). 

• Under the Conservatives, the number of businesses across the UK increased by over one million, with over 5.6 million businesses operating in the UK, creating more jobs and opportunities for people across the country. In 2010, there were 4.5 million businesses and there were 5.6 million when we left office – meaning over 1.1 million new businesses were created under the Conservatives since 2010 because we put the support in place to make the UK the best place in the world to start and run a business (BEIS, Business population estimates for the UK and regions 2023: statistical release,5 October 2023, link). 

• We secured the fastest growing economy in the G7. GDP figures show the economy grew by 0.9 per cent between January and March 2024, the fastest growth in the G7 (ONS, GDP quarterly national accounts, UK: October to December 2024, 28 March 2025, link). 

• We drove down inflation in government, restoring it to two per cent and helping to pave the way for interest rate cuts. When we left office, inflation was on target at 2.0 per cent, down from its peak of 11.1 per cent in October 2022 – allowing the Bank of England to cut interest rates (ONS, Consumer price inflation, UK: April 2024, 22 May 2024, link). 

TUC

• The unemployment rate fell to 4.9% from 5.1% over the latest three months
• ONS report number of workers on payroll remained “broadly flat in recent periods”, and a decline over the year to February of 74,000
• Youth unemployment is up to 14.3%, an increase over the quarter and year. Youth inactivity is up over the quarter to 31.1 % but down over the year  
• Vacancies fell by 29,000 over the quarter to 711,000 
• Nominal pay growth slowed to 3.6 per cent in the latest month, its lowest since November 2020
• Real pay growth is 0.4% against CPI inflation, down from 3.0% in the same period last year. 

Commenting on the latest labour market stats, TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:

“Before Trump's illegal war the jobs market was starting to stabilise – but now his reckless actions threaten to derail progress.

“The longer this war goes on, the greater the threat to households and firms.

“Ministers must keep doing everything they can to support workers, who are increasingly worried about their jobs and living standards."

British Chambers of Commerce

Reacting to the latest labour market data from the ONS, Patrick Milnes, Head of People and Work at the British Chambers of Commerce, said:    

“While unemployment has seen a surprise fall to 4.9%, the expectation is that it will rise this year as business uncertainty caused by the Iran War overshadows the UK economy.  

“With the cost of employment also high, and expected to rise as the Employment Rights Act comes into effect, our latest forecast expects unemployment to hit 5.5% this year.  The slow-down in wage growth indicatesbusinesses are taking their foot off the gas and the labour market will continue to loosen.    

“With the conflict in Iran likely to drive higher inflation and weaken growth, the spectre of stagflation is beginning to grow.  

“This has upended expectations at the start of the year of further interest rate cuts by the Bank of England, increasing the level of uncertainty still further.  

“The Government must move swiftly to show that it understands the problems firms face. Action to ease the cost burdens they face, such as help with electricity bills and reform of business rates would go a long way to demonstrating this.”    

More detail on the labour market data can be found here.  

Institute of Directors

Responding to the latest ONS labour market data, Alex Hall-Chen, Principal Policy Advisor for Employment at the Institute of Directors, said:

“Today's data reflects ongoing stagnation in employer demand for labour, with payrolled employees down by 11,000 on the month and vacancies down by 3.9% on the quarter. Whilst the unemployment rate has decreased on the quarter, this appears to be linked to increasing rates of economic inactivity, rather than job creation.

“A cocktail of increased employment costs and regulations, coming at a time of record low business confidence, has made hiring new staff a significantly less attractive proposition for employers.

“In its recent response to the consultation on the new right of trade unions to access workplaces, the Government missed an opportunity to demonstrate to employers that it's taking a pragmatic approach to implementing the Employment Rights Act. With little to no evidence that employer concerns are being listened to in the development of secondary legislation, employer confidence in hiring continues to be undermined by the reforms.

“If the Government is serious about reversing the decline in job creation, it must change course and demonstrate a willingness to make its employment reforms workable by finding solutions via meaningful negotiations with employers.”