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 2026 figures
Published on 21st April 2026 – valid until 19th May 2026.
Source: Office for National Statistics
Unemployment (all ages)
The figure for claimant count is 1,694,000.
The UK unemployment rate was 4.9% and 1.78 million people aged 16+ were unemployed. The unemployment rate is down 0.2% 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 15.8% for Dec 25-Feb 26 and 713,000 people aged 16 to 24 were unemployed, 70,000 more than the previous year.
The economic inactivity rate for Dec 25-Feb 26 is 39.9% for 16–24-year-olds and there were 2.996 million young people aged 16 to 24 who were economically inactive, an increase of 1.4% since last quarter but 19,000 less than the previous year.
Young people (aged 16-29) Currently the claimant count for those aged 16-29 is 547, 670 (+5,180 from March 26
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 | 260 | 220 | 185 | 155 | 405 | 80 | 775 | 355 | 250 | 285 | 300 | 380 | 3,650 |
| Aged 18-24 | 26,350 | 23,980 | 53,210 | 14,280 | 42,735 | 6,025 | 21,260 | 35,960 | 20,600 | 14,995 | 42,605 | 32,415 | 334,415 |
| Aged 25-29 | 15,170 | 13,425 | 43,155 | 7,810 | 26,095 | 4,240 | 14,245 | 21,885 | 11,820 | 8,290 | 25,420 | 18,050 | 209,605 |
| Totals | 41,780 | 37,625 | 96,550 | 22,245 | 69,235 | 10,345 | 36,280 | 58,200 | 32,670 | 23,570 | 68,325 | 50,845 | 547,670 |
Young people (aged 16-29) Currently the claimant count for those aged 16-29 is 547, 670 (+5,180 from March 26)
Vacancies
- The headline figures for vacancies (for Jan-Mar ‘26) shows the UK has 711,000 vacancies – down 29,000 (-3.9%) on the quarter and down 77,000 (-9.3%) on Jan-Mar ’20 (since Covid-19).
- The non-headline single month estimate of vacancies (for March ‘26) is 728,000 – up 56,000 (-8.3%) on the quarter (link).
Disabled people (Oct-Dec 2025)
The disability employment rate is 52.8%.
Employment by nationality (Oct-Dec 2025)
- 85.8% of those employed in the UK are UK nationals, while 6.4% are EU nationals and 7.9% are non-EU nationals.
- The employment rate for UK nationals is 75.0%. For non-UK nationals, the employment rate is 75.9% (79.8%) for EU nationals, 73.1% for non-EU nationals).