Fresh nightmare for Rachel Reeves as UK unemployment nearer than ever to EU stage | Politics | News | EUROtoday

Britain’s unemployment charge has risen to inside one recentage level of the European Union’s in a serious blow to the Chancellor Rachel Reeves. The hole between the 2 is the closest because the launch of the European single foreign money, The Telegraph experiences, citing ONS information.

The charge of UK unemployment elevated to five.1% within the three months to October final 12 months, the very best since January 2021 when Britain was nonetheless within the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. Meanwhile, the newest Eurostat figures for October steered joblessness throughout the bloc was at 6% and at 6.4% throughout the smaller eurozone.

The figures will make for grim studying in Number 11 on condition that UK unemployment has been markedly decrease within the a long time because the EU was shaped, when employment at one level reached double figures.

The EU unemployment charge at 10% for a lot of 2015, virtually double that seen within the UK (5.5%).

Critics have blamed Labour’s insurance policies for fuelling the rise in unemployment, with the rise in employer National Insurance contributions in Ms Reeves’ 2025 Autumn price range a specific focus of criticism.

The Government argued that robust selections needed to be made to steadiness the nation’s funds, blaming Tory mismanagement of the economic system over its 14 years in energy.

However, the rise in payroll prices led many companies to warn that it could imply them having to rethink recruitment plans.

According to tax information, payrolled employment has decreased by 187,000 because the transfer was introduced in October 2024, the newspaper experiences.

Martin Beck, chief economist at WPI Strategy stated the nation is changing into “more sclerotic, more interventionist, slower growing”, including: “We are raising the cost of employing low-skilled workers by more than in Europe – that is not helping”, calling it a “shame”.

It comes as youth unemployment continues to be excessive, reaching 16% in October, and Labour’s marked enhance within the National Living Wage has been cited as a contributing issue by some analysts, as the upper prices of hiring youthful folks might delay some employers.

A Government spokesperson stated the roles market remained sturdy, pointing to figures from the Labour Force Survey put out by the ONS.

“There are over 350,000 more people in work this year with the rate of inactivity at its joint-lowest in over five years,” they told the Telegraph.

“To address the unemployment challenge this government inherited, we are investing £1.5bn to deliver 50,000 apprenticeships and 350,000 new workplace opportunities for young people.

“Alongside this, Alan Milburn’s investigation will help us understand the root causes to youth unemployment.”