The Claimant Count
The Claimant Count is the most reliable data that we use in MtW. While figures are published monthly by the Office for National Statistics (ONS), it is still only an estimate, but one which is directly sourced from the DWP / Jobcentre Plus admin system. It covers the whole of the UK.
The Claimant Count measures the number of people claiming unemployment related benefits, usually Job Seekers Allowance, Universal Credit (UC) and National Insurance Credits.
The Claimant Count is NOT just about unemployment, but there is a large overlap. It does not meet the internationally agreed definition of unemployment specified by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), but does include people on UC who are in work but with very low earnings. Additionally, the Claimant Count can include some people who are NEET and economically inactive.
April 2025 figures
Published on 15 April 2025 – valid until 13 May 2025.
Source: Office for National Statistics
Unemployment (all ages)
The figure for claimant count is 1,766,000.
The UK unemployment rate was 4.4% and 1.57 million people aged 16+ were unemployed. The unemployment rate has remained the same as the previous quarter and unemployment levels increased by around 114,000 over the last year.
Young people (aged 16-24)
The unemployment rate for 16–24-year-olds is 14.6% for December 2024 – February 2025.The economic inactivity rate for December 2024 – February 2025 is 40.2% for 16–24-year-olds, down 2.0% from the year before. There were 2.97 million young people aged 16 to 24 who were economically inactive, 92,000 less than the previous year.
Young people (aged 16-29)
| Age | East | East Midlands | London | North East | North West | Northern Ireland | Scotland | South East | South West | Wales | West Midlands | Yorkshire and The Humber | Totals |
| Aged 16-17 | 255 | 215 | 160 | 145 | 405 | 55 | 710 | 300 | 255 | 280 | 290 | 360 | 3,430 |
| Aged 18-24 | 23,920 | 22,220 | 50,700 | 13,780 | 40,050 | 5,730 | 19,445 | 32,110 | 18,435 | 13,700 | 39,490 | 31,380 | 310,960 |
| Aged 25-29 | 14,840 | 13,460 | 42,695 | 8,010 | 25,980 | 4,620 | 13,570 | 21,105 | 11,620 | 8,080 | 24,710 | 18,330 | 207,020 |
| Totals | 39,015 | 35,895 | 93,555 | 21,935 | 66,435 | 10,405 | 33,725 | 53,515 | 30,310 | 22,060 | 64,490 | 50,070 | 521,410 |
Currently, the claimant count for those aged 16-29 is 521,410.
Vacancies
- The headline figures for vacancies (for Jan-Mar ‘25) shows the UK has 781,000 vacancies – down 25,000 (-3.1%) on the quarter and down 14,000 (-1.8%) on Jan-Mar ’20 (since Covid-19).
Disabled people (October 2024 to December 2024)
The disability employment rate is 54.0%.
Employment by nationality (October 2024 to December 2024)
- 86.1% of those employed in the UK are UK nationals, while 6.3% are EU nationals and 7.6% are non-EU nationals.
- The employment rate for UK nationals is 74.9%. For non-UK nationals, the employment rate is 76.8% (80.8% for EU nationals, 73.8% for non-EU nationals).