Unemployment rate rises as job vacancies fall 15 Oct 2025Data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that the unemployment rate rose to 4.8% between June and August 2025. The number of unemployed individuals per vacancy was 2.4 in June to August 2025, a rise from the figure of 2.3 recorded in the previous quarter. The UK economic inactivity rate was unchanged at 21.0%. Wage growth also slowed, cooling to 4.7% in the three months to August from 4.8% in the three months to July. Liz McKeown, Director of Economic Statistics at the ONS, said: 'After a long period of weak hiring activity, there are signs that the falls we have seen in both payroll numbers and vacancies are now levelling off. 'We see different patterns across the age ranges with record numbers of over 65s in work, which the increase in unemployment was driven mostly by younger people.'