Stately

ONS · percent

Unemployment rate under each government

The full published series with each government’s time in office shaded. The table gives the level each government inherited and the last complete period before it left. Changes describe the period, not a cause. Definitions and caveats are on the metric page.

Unemployment rate: 1971 Q1 to 2026 Q2ConservativeConservativeConservativeConservativeLabourLabourLabourLabourCoalitionConservativeConservativeConservativeLabour0%5%10%198019902000201020201971 Q1: 3.8% percent · published 17 August 20261971 Q2: 4.1% percent · published 17 August 20261971 Q3: 4.2% percent · published 17 August 20261971 Q4: 4.4% percent · published 17 August 20261972 Q1: 4.5% percent · published 17 August 20261972 Q2: 4.4% percent · published 17 August 20261972 Q3: 4.3% percent · published 17 August 20261972 Q4: 4.2% percent · published 17 August 20261973 Q1: 3.9% percent · published 17 August 20261973 Q2: 3.7% percent · published 17 August 20261973 Q3: 3.6% percent · published 17 August 20261973 Q4: 3.4% percent · published 17 August 20261974 Q1: 3.6% percent · published 17 August 20261974 Q2: 3.6% percent · published 17 August 20261974 Q3: 3.7% percent · published 17 August 20261974 Q4: 3.7% percent · published 17 August 20261975 Q1: 4% percent · published 17 August 20261975 Q2: 4.3% percent · published 17 August 20261975 Q3: 4.7% percent · published 17 August 20261975 Q4: 5% percent · published 17 August 20261976 Q1: 5.3% percent · published 17 August 20261976 Q2: 5.4% percent · published 17 August 20261976 Q3: 5.5% percent · published 17 August 20261976 Q4: 5.5% percent · published 17 August 20261977 Q1: 5.5% percent · published 17 August 20261977 Q2: 5.5% percent · published 17 August 20261977 Q3: 5.7% percent · published 17 August 20261977 Q4: 5.7% percent · published 17 August 20261978 Q1: 5.6% percent · published 17 August 20261978 Q2: 5.6% percent · published 17 August 20261978 Q3: 5.5% percent · published 17 August 20261978 Q4: 5.4% percent · published 17 August 20261979 Q1: 5.4% percent · published 17 August 20261979 Q2: 5.3% percent · published 17 August 20261979 Q3: 5.4% percent · published 17 August 20261979 Q4: 5.5% percent · published 17 August 20261980 Q1: 5.8% percent · published 17 August 20261980 Q2: 6.3% percent · published 17 August 20261980 Q3: 7.1% percent · published 17 August 20261980 Q4: 8% percent · published 17 August 20261981 Q1: 8.9% percent · published 17 August 20261981 Q2: 9.6% percent · published 17 August 20261981 Q3: 9.9% percent · published 17 August 20261981 Q4: 10.2% percent · published 17 August 20261982 Q1: 10.4% percent · published 17 August 20261982 Q2: 10.6% percent · published 17 August 20261982 Q3: 10.8% percent · published 17 August 20261982 Q4: 11.1% percent · published 17 August 20261983 Q1: 11.3% percent · published 17 August 20261983 Q2: 11.4% percent · published 17 August 20261983 Q3: 11.5% percent · published 17 August 20261983 Q4: 11.7% percent · published 17 August 20261984 Q1: 11.8% percent · published 17 August 20261984 Q2: 11.9% percent · published 17 August 20261984 Q3: 11.7% percent · published 17 August 20261984 Q4: 11.6% percent · published 17 August 20261985 Q1: 11.5% percent · published 17 August 20261985 Q2: 11.4% percent · published 17 August 20261985 Q3: 11.3% percent · published 17 August 20261985 Q4: 11.3% percent · published 17 August 20261986 Q1: 11.3% percent · published 17 August 20261986 Q2: 11.3% percent · published 17 August 20261986 Q3: 11.4% percent · published 17 August 20261986 Q4: 11.3% percent · published 17 August 20261987 Q1: 11.1% percent · published 17 August 20261987 Q2: 10.7% percent · published 17 August 20261987 Q3: 10.2% percent · published 17 August 20261987 Q4: 9.7% percent · published 17 August 20261988 Q1: 9.2% percent · published 17 August 20261988 Q2: 8.7% percent · published 17 August 20261988 Q3: 8.4% percent · published 17 August 20261988 Q4: 8% percent · published 17 August 20261989 Q1: 7.6% percent · published 17 August 20261989 Q2: 7.2% percent · published 17 August 20261989 Q3: 7.1% percent · published 17 August 20261989 Q4: 7% percent · published 17 August 20261990 Q1: 6.9% percent · published 17 August 20261990 Q2: 6.9% percent · published 17 August 20261990 Q3: 7.1% percent · published 17 August 20261990 Q4: 7.5% percent · published 17 August 20261991 Q1: 8% percent · published 17 August 20261991 Q2: 8.7% percent · published 17 August 20261991 Q3: 9.2% percent · published 17 August 20261991 Q4: 9.5% percent · published 17 August 20261992 Q1: 9.7% percent · published 17 August 20261992 Q2: 9.8% percent · published 17 August 20261992 Q3: 9.9% percent · published 17 August 20261992 Q4: 10.4% percent · published 17 August 20261993 Q1: 10.6% percent · published 17 August 20261993 Q2: 10.4% percent · published 17 August 20261993 Q3: 10.2% percent · published 17 August 20261993 Q4: 10.3% percent · published 17 August 20261994 Q1: 9.9% percent · published 17 August 20261994 Q2: 9.7% percent · published 17 August 20261994 Q3: 9.4% percent · published 17 August 20261994 Q4: 9% percent · published 17 August 20261995 Q1: 8.9% percent · published 17 August 20261995 Q2: 8.7% percent · published 17 August 20261995 Q3: 8.6% percent · published 17 August 20261995 Q4: 8.3% percent · published 17 August 20261996 Q1: 8.2% percent · published 17 August 20261996 Q2: 8.3% percent · published 17 August 20261996 Q3: 8.1% percent · published 17 August 20261996 Q4: 7.8% percent · published 17 August 20261997 Q1: 7.3% percent · published 17 August 20261997 Q2: 7.2% percent · published 17 August 20261997 Q3: 6.8% percent · published 17 August 20261997 Q4: 6.5% percent · published 17 August 20261998 Q1: 6.4% percent · published 17 August 20261998 Q2: 6.3% percent · published 17 August 20261998 Q3: 6.2% percent · published 17 August 20261998 Q4: 6.1% percent · published 17 August 20261999 Q1: 6.2% percent · published 17 August 20261999 Q2: 6% percent · published 17 August 20261999 Q3: 5.9% percent · published 17 August 20261999 Q4: 5.8% percent · published 17 August 20262000 Q1: 5.8% percent · published 17 August 20262000 Q2: 5.5% percent · published 17 August 20262000 Q3: 5.3% percent · published 17 August 20262000 Q4: 5.2% percent · published 17 August 20262001 Q1: 5.1% percent · published 17 August 20262001 Q2: 5% percent · published 17 August 20262001 Q3: 5.1% percent · published 17 August 20262001 Q4: 5.2% percent · published 17 August 20262002 Q1: 5.2% percent · published 17 August 20262002 Q2: 5.2% percent · published 17 August 20262002 Q3: 5.3% percent · published 17 August 20262002 Q4: 5.1% percent · published 17 August 20262003 Q1: 5.2% percent · published 17 August 20262003 Q2: 4.9% percent · published 17 August 20262003 Q3: 5% percent · published 17 August 20262003 Q4: 4.9% percent · published 17 August 20262004 Q1: 4.8% percent · published 17 August 20262004 Q2: 4.8% percent · published 17 August 20262004 Q3: 4.7% percent · published 17 August 20262004 Q4: 4.7% percent · published 17 August 20262005 Q1: 4.7% percent · published 17 August 20262005 Q2: 4.8% percent · published 17 August 20262005 Q3: 4.7% percent · published 17 August 20262005 Q4: 5.1% percent · published 17 August 20262006 Q1: 5.2% percent · published 17 August 20262006 Q2: 5.5% percent · published 17 August 20262006 Q3: 5.5% percent · published 17 August 20262006 Q4: 5.5% percent · published 17 August 20262007 Q1: 5.5% percent · published 17 August 20262007 Q2: 5.4% percent · published 17 August 20262007 Q3: 5.3% percent · published 17 August 20262007 Q4: 5.2% percent · published 17 August 20262008 Q1: 5.2% percent · published 17 August 20262008 Q2: 5.4% percent · published 17 August 20262008 Q3: 5.9% percent · published 17 August 20262008 Q4: 6.4% percent · published 17 August 20262009 Q1: 7.1% percent · published 17 August 20262009 Q2: 7.8% percent · published 17 August 20262009 Q3: 7.8% percent · published 17 August 20262009 Q4: 7.8% percent · published 17 August 20262010 Q1: 8% percent · published 17 August 20262010 Q2: 7.9% percent · published 17 August 20262010 Q3: 7.8% percent · published 17 August 20262010 Q4: 7.9% percent · published 17 August 20262011 Q1: 7.8% percent · published 17 August 20262011 Q2: 7.9% percent · published 17 August 20262011 Q3: 8.3% percent · published 17 August 20262011 Q4: 8.4% percent · published 17 August 20262012 Q1: 8.2% percent · published 17 August 20262012 Q2: 8% percent · published 17 August 20262012 Q3: 7.8% percent · published 17 August 20262012 Q4: 7.8% percent · published 17 August 20262013 Q1: 7.8% percent · published 17 August 20262013 Q2: 7.7% percent · published 17 August 20262013 Q3: 7.6% percent · published 17 August 20262013 Q4: 7.2% percent · published 17 August 20262014 Q1: 6.7% percent · published 17 August 20262014 Q2: 6.3% percent · published 17 August 20262014 Q3: 6% percent · published 17 August 20262014 Q4: 5.7% percent · published 17 August 20262015 Q1: 5.5% percent · published 17 August 20262015 Q2: 5.6% percent · published 17 August 20262015 Q3: 5.3% percent · published 17 August 20262015 Q4: 5.1% percent · published 17 August 20262016 Q1: 5.1% percent · published 17 August 20262016 Q2: 4.9% percent · published 17 August 20262016 Q3: 4.8% percent · published 17 August 20262016 Q4: 4.7% percent · published 17 August 20262017 Q1: 4.6% percent · published 17 August 20262017 Q2: 4.4% percent · published 17 August 20262017 Q3: 4.3% percent · published 17 August 20262017 Q4: 4.4% percent · published 17 August 20262018 Q1: 4.2% percent · published 17 August 20262018 Q2: 4% percent · published 17 August 20262018 Q3: 4.1% percent · published 17 August 20262018 Q4: 4% percent · published 17 August 20262019 Q1: 3.8% percent · published 17 August 20262019 Q2: 3.9% percent · published 17 August 20262019 Q3: 3.9% percent · published 17 August 20262019 Q4: 3.7% percent · published 17 August 20262020 Q1: 4.1% percent · published 17 August 20262020 Q2: 4.1% percent · published 17 August 20262020 Q3: 5% percent · published 17 August 20262020 Q4: 5.3% percent · published 17 August 20262021 Q1: 4.9% percent · published 17 August 20262021 Q2: 4.7% percent · published 17 August 20262021 Q3: 4.4% percent · published 17 August 20262021 Q4: 4.2% percent · published 17 August 20262022 Q1: 3.8% percent · published 17 August 20262022 Q2: 3.8% percent · published 17 August 20262022 Q3: 3.7% percent · published 17 August 20262022 Q4: 3.9% percent · published 17 August 20262023 Q1: 4% percent · published 17 August 20262023 Q2: 4.2% percent · published 17 August 20262023 Q3: 4.1% percent · published 17 August 20262023 Q4: 3.9% percent · published 17 August 20262024 Q1: 4.3% percent · published 17 August 20262024 Q2: 4.2% percent · published 17 August 20262024 Q3: 4.3% percent · published 17 August 20262024 Q4: 4.4% percent · published 17 August 20262025 Q1: 4.6% percent · published 17 August 20262025 Q2: 4.7% percent · published 17 August 20262025 Q3: 5% percent · published 17 August 20262025 Q4: 5.2% percent · published 17 August 20262026 Q1: 5% percent · published 17 August 20262026 Q2: 4.9% percent · published 17 August 2026
Published valueProvisional or revisedLatestShaded bands: governments (see labels)Hover or use arrow keys to read a value
GovernmentInheritedLeft at / latestChange during government
Labour 2024–5 July 2024 – present4.2%2024 Q24.9%2026 Q2↑ 16.7%+0.7%
Conservative 2019–202413 December 2019 – 5 July 20243.9%2019 Q34.2%2024 Q2↑ 7.7%+0.3%
Conservative 2017–20199 June 2017 – 13 December 20194.6%2017 Q13.9%2019 Q3↓ 15.2%−0.7%
Conservative 2015–20178 May 2015 – 9 June 20175.5%2015 Q14.6%2017 Q1↓ 16.4%−0.9%
Coalition 2010–201511 May 2010 – 8 May 20158%2010 Q15.5%2015 Q1↓ 31.3%−2.5%
Labour 2005–20106 May 2005 – 11 May 20104.7%2005 Q18%2010 Q1↑ 70.2%+3.3%
Labour 2001–20058 June 2001 – 5 May 20055.1%2001 Q14.7%2005 Q1↓ 7.8%−0.4%
Labour 1997–20012 May 1997 – 7 June 20017.3%1997 Q15.1%2001 Q1↓ 30.1%−2.2%
Conservative 1992–199710 April 1992 – 2 May 19979.7%1992 Q17.3%1997 Q1↓ 24.7%−2.4%
Conservative 1987–199212 June 1987 – 9 April 199211.1%1987 Q19.7%1992 Q1↓ 12.6%−1.4%
Conservative 1983–198710 June 1983 – 11 June 198711.3%1983 Q111.1%1987 Q1↓ 1.8%−0.2%
Conservative 1979–19834 May 1979 – 9 June 19835.4%1979 Q111.3%1983 Q1↑ 109.3%+5.9%