Katherine Heffernan | 16 Dec 2025

Further increase in unemployment, with younger workers the most affected

The latest labour market figures point to a further increase in the headline unemployment rate, which is now showing at 5.1% for all workers aged 16 and over, although there is considerable variation by age, with particularly pronounced levels among the youngest members of the workforce. In tandem with this, a sharp increase in the redundancy rate this quarter is also contributing to a weakened labour market overall.

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