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UK unemployment rate: what the drop to 4.7% in July 2026 means

The UK's seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.7% in July 2026, down from 4.9% in June 2026.

Published 1 min read

  • 2026-064.9%
  • 2026-074.7%
United Kingdom unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted) · Office for National Statistics (UK)

UK Unemployment rate →

What happened to unemployment in July 2026?

For an ordinary household, the headline is simple. A slightly smaller share of people were counted as unemployed in July 2026 than in June 2026. The seasonally adjusted unemployment rate was 4.7% in July 2026.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

What exactly do the official figures show?

The measure is the United Kingdom unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, given in per cent. It stood at 4.9% in June 2026 and at 4.7% in July 2026.

Sources for this paragraph (2)

The change from the previous period, which here means the previous month, was -0.2 percentage points. This is a month-on-month change, not a change over 12 months.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

How does July compare with June?

The two months come from the same statistic, so they can be compared directly. The later value, 4.7%, is lower than the earlier one, 4.9%. That is a fall.

Sources for this paragraph (3)

The figures provided cover only these two months for this measure. They do not show whether the rate was rising or falling before June 2026.

Sources for this paragraph (2)

What does this mean for people living in the UK?

The rate tells you the share of people counted as unemployed under this measure. In July 2026 that share was 4.7%, a little lower than a month earlier.

Sources for this paragraph (2)

The figure describes the country as a whole. It does not tell you about any particular region, industry or age group, or about how easy it is to find a specific job.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

What can the data not tell us?

A single monthly move of -0.2 percentage points does not establish a trend. The facts available do not include earlier months or later months for this measure.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

The figures do not explain why the rate fell. They also do not say how many people moved into work, left the labour force or stopped looking.

Sources for this paragraph (2)

Other UK statistics, such as annual estimates from international bodies or price and pay measures, use different definitions and periods. This report does not set them against the monthly rate, because they do not measure the same thing.

Sources for this paragraph (1)

Scenarios to watch

  • Scenario, not a forecast If later monthly readings of the seasonally adjusted rate stay close to or below the July level, the July figure would sit within a run of lower readings rather than stand alone.
  • Scenario, not a forecast If later monthly readings return towards the June level, the July fall would look like a single month's movement.

What to check next

  • The next monthly release of the UK seasonally adjusted unemployment rate, to see whether the July 2026 level holds
  • Any revisions to the June 2026 and July 2026 figures
  • Breakdowns by region, age or industry, if published, to see where the change came from

Verified data used in this report

IndicatorValuePeriodSourcesAccessed
F1United Kingdom unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted)4.7%2026-07Office for National Statistics (UK)
F2United Kingdom unemployment rate (seasonally adjusted)4.9%2026-06Office for National Statistics (UK)
F3Change from previous period (percentage points)-0.2pp2026-07Office for National Statistics (UK)
C23United Kingdom GDP growth (annual %)1.39%2025World Bank
C24United Kingdom Unemployment, total (% of labour force, ILO modelled estimate)4.75%2025World Bank
C25United Kingdom Fertility rate, total (births per woman)1.552024World Bank
C26United Kingdom Population aged 65 and above (% of total population)19.7%2025World Bank
C27United Kingdom Population growth (annual %)0.3%2025World Bank
C28United Kingdom central bank policy rate (month-end)3.75%2026-09Bank of England
C29United Kingdom consumer price inflation (12-month change)3.5%2026-09Office for National Statistics (UK)
C30United Kingdom CPIH inflation, including owner occupiers' housing costs (12-month change)3.6%2026-09Office for National Statistics (UK)
C31United Kingdom food price inflation (12-month change)1.3%2026-09Office for National Statistics (UK)
C33United Kingdom average weekly earnings growth (3-month average, 12-month change)3.7%2026-08Office for National Statistics (UK)

Sources

  • Source: Office for National Statistics, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 — license
  • Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) — license
  • Source: Bank of England, licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0 — license

How this report was checked

  • Data: the newest reference period cited is 2026-09.
  • Figures were collected from the source on
  • Written by an AI model (claude-opus-5-5) using only the official figures listed in this report.
  • Automatic checks passed: every number matches a cited figure, every paragraph names its evidence, and there is no investment advice or copied source text.
  • A separate quality-check model raised concerns, and the report was rewritten once to address them.
  • No person reviewed this report before publication. Automatic checks confirm the numbers, not every interpretation.
  • The report has been regenerated 1 time(s); see the update history.
Update history
  • 2026-10-27 08:01 UTC — created
  • 2026-10-29 14:30 UTC — regenerated
  • 2026-10-29 14:30 UTC — approved+published

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