Unemployment in the UK Economy (2018 Update)

Here is a quick update on the key unemployment and employment data for the UK economy ahead of the June 2018 Economics exams. Designed to provide some context for students to use in essays.

Key unemployment data to revise

• Unemployment rate: 4.2% of the labour force, 1.42m unemployed people, lowest since 1975
• Long term unemployment: 1.1% (25% of the total)
• Employment rate: 75.4% of the population of working age (highest ever rate for the UK)
• Youth unemployment: 12% (was 20% youth unemployed in 2012)
• Regional unemployment rates: February 2018, the highest unemployment: Yorkshire & Humber (5.2%); lowest in the South East & South West (3.4%).
• Economic inactivity: 8.7 million, 21.2% (highest in Northern Ireland at 27.9%
• Under-employment: 2.5 million, 7.8% of the labour force