November Labour Market Statistics: comment from the Institute for Employment Studies
11 Nov 2025
Commenting on today's figures, Naomi Clayton, Chief Executive at the Institute for Employment Studies said:
"The labour market continues to cool. The last two months have seen the most significant falls in payrolled employment in the last year, which has fallen for 11 of the last 12 months. Early estimates suggest that vacancies have increased slightly but remain well below the pre-pandemic peak. The unemployment rate has increased to the highest rate in four years. Coupled with broadly unchanged vacancy numbers, this means that there are more people looking for fewer jobs and, outside the pandemic, the unemployment-to-vacancy ratio is the highest in 10 years.
"With weak hiring and rising unemployment, the upcoming Autumn Budget must focus on boosting employment and expanding support for the 2.1 million people who are outside the labour force but want to work. This should include accelerating the rollout of the Get Britain Working reforms, launching the first phase of workplace health initiatives to help more people stay in or return to work, and strengthening pathways for reskilling."