Story · United Kingdom · 20 Oct 2026
The UK unemployment rate was 4.7% in June to August 2026
The UK unemployment rate was 4.7% in June to August 2026, while the employment rate was 75.3%.
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30-second read
4.7%
UK unemployment rate
75.3%
UK employment rate
20.9%
UK economic inactivity rate
Exam link: Labour market → employment and wages → household income, consumption and inflation
Understand the storyExpand Close
The Office for National Statistics estimated a UK unemployment rate of 4.7% in June to August 2026. The employment rate was 75.3%, while the economic inactivity rate was 20.9%.
What happened
In June to August 2026, the UK unemployment rate was 4.7%, the employment rate was 75.3%, and the economic inactivity rate was 20.9%.
Why it matters
Labour-market conditions affect household incomes, consumer demand, wage pressure and the economy's productive capacity. Unemployment and inactivity also help indicate how much spare capacity may exist.
Economic context
For A-Level Economics, this is direct UK evidence for unemployment, labour-market performance, aggregate demand and supply, wage pressures and policy trade-offs. Distinguish unemployment from economic inactivity when evaluating labour-market slack.
All key dataExpand Close
- UK employment rate
- 75.3%
- UK unemployment rate
- 4.7%
- UK economic inactivity rate
- 20.9%
Terms explainedExpand Close
Economic inactivity
People of working age who are not employed and are not currently counted as unemployed because they are not actively seeking or available for work.
Use it in an examExpand Close
Evidence
The UK unemployment rate was 4.7% in June to August 2026, while the employment rate was 75.3%.
Explain
Labour-market conditions affect household incomes, consumer demand, wage pressure and the economy's productive capacity. Unemployment and inactivity also help indicate how much spare capacity may exist.
Evaluate
For A-Level Economics, this is direct UK evidence for unemployment, labour-market performance, aggregate demand and supply, wage pressures and policy trade-offs. Distinguish unemployment from economic inactivity when evaluating labour-market slack.
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