Forex Fundamentals
UK Unemployment Rate

UK Unemployment Rate 21 July 2026

UK Unemployment Rate 21 July 2026: 4.9% for May 2026, below the 5.0% forecast and unchanged from 4.9% in April 2026. It is the second release in a row below the forecast. It was released on Tue 21 Jul 2026 at 06:00 UTC.

These figures were verified on 4 Oct 2026 from the source: Office for National Statistics. This page reports the release as published: the figures, the consensus forecast and what a print like it usually does to the currency.

Actual
4.9%
May 2026
Forecast
5.0%
The market consensus
Previous
4.9%
As the source gives it

What a print like this usually does

Below the forecast: A lower rate can support sterling if it signals a tight jobs market and continued wage pressure.

UK Unemployment Rate 21 July 2026: 4.9% for May 2026 against a 5.0% forecast, with the last 12 releases
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Cite this release

If you cite this release, please link to this page:

UK Unemployment Rate 21 July 2026: 4.9% vs 5.0% forecast (Office for National Statistics). Forex Fundamentals, https://forexfundamentals.com/economic-calendar/uk-unemployment/2026-07-21

The last 12 releases · times in UTC
ReleasedForActualForecastPrevious
21 Jul 2026May4.9%5.0%4.9%
18 Jun 2026Apr4.9%5%5.0%
19 May 2026Mar5%4.9%4.9%
21 Apr 2026Feb4.9%5.2%5.2%
19 Mar 2026Jan5.2%5.3%5.2%
17 Feb 2026Dec5.2%5.1%5.1%
11 Nov 2025Sep5%4.9%4.8%
14 Oct 2025Aug4.8%4.7%4.7%
16 Sep 2025Jul4.7%4.7%4.7%
12 Aug 2025Jun4.7%4.7%4.7%
17 Jul 2025May4.7%4.6%4.6%
10 Jun 2025Apr4.6%4.6%4.5%
The release before:UK Unemployment Rate 18 June 2026The release after:UK Unemployment Rate 18 August 2026UK Unemployment Rate: every recent resultThis week’s economic calendar