PARLIAMENTARY WRITTEN QUESTION
Unemployment (28 October 2024)

Question Asked

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate her Department has made of the total number of people of working age currently out of work.

Asked by:
Rupert Lowe (Restore Britain)

Answer

Official statistics for the number of people unemployed and economically inactive are published each month by the independent Office for National Statistics (ONS), estimated using the Labour Force Survey.

The ONS headline labour market statistics define working age as between 16 and 64 years old. The latest statistics show 10.61 million people are of working age currently out of work in the UK (June-August 2024) – 1.347 million who are unemployed and 9.263 million who are economically inactive. Of the 9.263 million who are economically inactive, 2.491 million are students and 1.674 million are looking after family/home.

Unemployment (000's)

1,347

Economic inactivity by reason (000's)

Student

2,491

Looking after family / home

1,674

Temp sick

201

Long-term sick

2,750

Discouraged workers

33

Retired

1,079

Other

1,035

Total (000's)

10,610


Answered by:
Alison McGovern (Labour)
31 October 2024

Contains Parliamentary information licensed under the Open Parliament Licence v3.0.