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.
JANUARY 2026 figures
Published on 20th January 2026. They are valid until 17th February 2026.
Source: Office for National Statistics
Unemployment (all ages)
The figure for claimant count is 1,677,000.
The UK unemployment rate was 5.1% and 1.84 million people aged 16+ were unemployed. The unemployment rate is up 0.3% on the previous quarter and is above estimates of a year ago.
Young people (aged 16-24)
Unemployment rate for 16–24-year-olds is 15.9% for Sep-Nov 2025 and 729,000 people aged 16 to 24 were unemployed, 103,000 more than the previous year.
The economic inactivity rate for Sep-Nov 2025 is 38.6% for 16–24-year-olds and there were 2.88 million young people aged 16 to 24 who were economically inactive, 138,000 less than the previous year.
Young people (aged 16-29)
| Age | North East | North West | Yorkshire and The Humber | East Midlands | West Midlands | East | London | South East | South West | Wales | Scotland | Northern Ireland | Totals |
| Aged 16-17 | 170 | 415 | 395 | 220 | 295 | 255 | 180 | 345 | 220 | 280 | 785 | 95 | 3,655 |
| Aged 18-24 | 14,125 | 41,725 | 31,145 | 22,960 | 41,715 | 25,220 | 53,530 | 34,300 | 19,290 | 14,300 | 19,530 | 6,205 | 324,045 |
| Aged 25-29 | 7,435 | 24,930 | 17,070 | 12,615 | 24,310 | 14,535 | 42,615 | 20,745 | 11,240 | 7,780 | 12,985 | 4,295 | 200,555 |
| Totals | 21,730 | 67,070 | 48,610 | 35,795 | 66,320 | 40,010 | 96,325 | 55,390 | 30,750 | 22,360 | 33,300 | 10,595 | 528,255 |
Currently the claimant count for those aged 16-29 is 525,610
Vacancies
- The headline figures for vacancies (for Oct-Dec ‘25) shows the UK has 734,000 vacancies – up 10,000 (1.3%) on the quarter and down 61,000 (-7.7%) on Jan-Mar ’20 (since Covid-19).
- The non-deadline single month estimate of vacancies (for December ’25) is 659,000 – down 68,000 (-9.4) on the quarter
Disabled people (July-September 2025)
The disability employment rate is 52.3%.
Employment by nationality (July-September 2025)
- 85.5% of those employed in the UK are UK nationals, while 6.2% are EU nationals and 8.2% are non-EU nationals.
- The employment rate for UK nationals is 74.9%. For non-UK nationals, the employment rate is 76.0% (80.1%) for EU nationals, 73.2% for non-EU nationals).