The UK unemployment rate increased notably in the third quarter and redundancies reached a record high as firms reduced staffing after the government scaled back the furlough scheme, which was extended this month till March-end next year.
Data from the Office for National Statistics showed that the ILO jobless rate rose by 0.7 percentage points from the previous quarter to 4.8 percent in the three months to September. This was the highest since November 2016 and came in line with expectations.
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May 01, 2026 15:54 ET Central banks dominated the economics news flow this week with almost all major ones announcing their latest policy decisions and many boosted expectations for a rate hike in June. In other news, several countries released the preliminary data for first quarter economic growth. In the U.S., comments by Fed Chair Jerome Powell were also in focus as his term ends this month.