UK jobless rate lower than first thought but inactivity jumps – ONS

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said changes to the way that it gathers information on the UK labour force has seen it revise the unemployment rate down to 3.9% for the quarter, from the 4.2% previous estimate.

It has also revised up the inactivity rate to 21.9% in the three months to November, from the 20.8% recorded previously.

The changes follow an overhaul to the ONS labour force survey after low responses meant the data was too unreliable.

Official figures have been estimating employment and unemployment rates since July last year, extrapolating from previous figures by using separate government tax records and data on unemployment benefit claims.

Using these estimates, the rate of unemployment has remained unchanged at 4.2% since the three months to June 2023.

Corrections to previous data has also seen the ONS revise down the rate of unemployment to 4% in the three months to October and 4.1% in the three months to September, from 4.2% in each quarter.

In a more worrying sign for Britain’s jobs market, the inactivity rate has been worse than originally estimated for some time, having been revised higher dating back to at least April to June last year.