UK unemployment rate by country 2023

In the three months to March 2023, the unemployment rate in the United Kingdom was highest in Wales where it was 4.6 percent, followed by four percent in England, 3.1 percent in Scotland, and 2.5 percent in Northern Ireland, the lowest rate among the four countries of the UK. For the United Kingdom as a whole, the unemployment rate was 3.7 percent, one of the lowest rates since 1974.

The full picture

Some indicators on how badly the UK economy will be affected by Coronavirus, include the monthly jobless claims, which increased by 850 thousand between March and April 2020, and the dramatic 18.3 percent fall in monthly gross domestic product recorded in April 2020. The fact that over 4.7 million jobs were still on the UK's job retention scheme at the end of January 2021 also hides the true extent of the labor market situation at present.

International comparisons

In April 2020, the unemployment rate of the United States reached 14.7 percent, compared to 4.4 percent in March. Although there was a slight decrease in May, when unemployment fell to 13.3 percent, the situation is undoubtedly severe. In Europe, it is forecast that unemployment for the whole of continent will average at nine percent in 2020, with unemployment in Greece predicted to reach 19.9 percent, compared with four percent in Germany.

Unemployment rate in the United Kingdom from May 1992 to March 2023, by country

Characteristic	England	Scotland	Wales	Northern Ireland
Mar 23	4%	3.1%	4.6%	2.5%
Feb 23	3.9%	3%	3.5%	2.4%
Jan 23	3.8%	3.1%	3.5%	2.4%
Dec 22	3.8%	3.3%	3.5%	2.5%
Nov 22	3.7%	3.3%	3.4%	2.8%
Oct 22	3.7%	3.3%	3.6%	2.7%
Sep 22	3.6%	3.5%	3.7%	3%
Aug 22	3.5%	3.3%	3.3%	3%
Jul 22	3.7%	3.1%	3.2%	2.9%
Jun 22	3.9%	3.2%	3.8%	2.7%
May 22	3.8%	3.5%	3.8%	2.6%
Apr 22	3.9%	3.2%	3.5%	2.6%
Mar 22	3.9%	3.2%	3%	2.3%
Feb 22	4%	3.5%	3%	2.5%
Jan 22	4.1%	3.8%	3%	2.7%
Dec 21	4.2%	4.1%	3.1%	2.7%
Nov 21	4.2%	3.6%	3.4%	3.1%
Oct 21	4.3%	4.1%	3.7%	3.6%
Sep 21	4.3%	4.1%	3.8%	4%
Aug 21	4.5%	4.4%	4%	4.1%
Jul 21	4.6%	4.3%	4.2%	4%
Jun 21	4.8%	4.3%	4.1%	3.8%
May 21	5%	4.4%	3.9%	3.6%
Apr 21	4.9%	4.2%	4.3%	3.1%
Mar 21	4.8%	4.3%	4.4%	3.6%
Feb 21	5%	4.4%	4.8%	3.7%
Jan 21	5.1%	4.1%	4.5%	3.7%
Dec 20	5.3%	4.5%	4.4%	3.6%
Nov 20	5.2%	4.4%	4.6%	3.2%
Oct 20	5.1%	4.2%	4.6%	3.9%
Sep 20	4.8%	4.5%	4.6%	3.6%
Aug 20	4.5%	4.5%	3.8%	3.7%
Jul 20	4.3%	4.9%	3.2%	3%
Jun 20	4.1%	4.6%	2.7%	2.5%
May 20	4.1%	4.5%	2.8%	2.4%
Apr 20	4%	4.7%	3.1%	2.3%
Mar 20	4%	4.2%	3.2%	2.4%
Feb 20	4%	3.7%	3.7%	2.5%
Jan 20	4%	3.5%	3.3%	2.4%
Dec 19	3.9%	3.5%	2.9%	2.4%
Nov 19	3.9%	3.8%	3%	2.3%
Oct 19	3.8%	3.7%	3.6%	2.3%
Sep 19	3.9%	4%	3.8%	2.5%
Aug 19	3.9%	4.1%	4.2%	2.9%
Jul 19	3.8%	4%	3.8%	2.8%
Jun 19	3.9%	3.6%	3.9%	3.1%
May 19	3.9%	3.3%	3.8%	3.1%
Apr 19	3.9%	3.3%	4.4%	3.1%
Mar 19	3.9%	3.2%	4.5%	2.9%
Feb 19	4%	3.3%	4.5%	3%
Jan 19	4%	3.4%	4.3%	3.5%
Dec 18	4.1%	3.5%	4.1%	3.8%
Nov 18	4.1%	3.6%	4.1%	3.5%
Oct 18	4.1%	3.7%	4.5%	3.6%
Sep 18	4.1%	3.8%	4.1%	3.8%
Aug 18	4.1%	3.9%	3.9%	4%
Jul 18	4%	4.1%	3.6%	3.8%
Jun 18	4%	4.1%	4%	3.7%
May 18	4.2%	4.2%	4.2%	3.4%
Apr 18	4.2%	4.2%	4.2%	3.3%
Mar 18	4.2%	4.3%	4.3%	3%
Feb 18	4.2%	4.2%	4.6%	3.4%
Jan 18	4.3%	4.3%	4.8%	3.3%
Dec 17	4.3%	4.4%	5.1%	4.1%
Nov 17	4.3%	4.1%	4.9%	4%
Oct 17	4.2%	4.2%	5%	3.9%
Sep 17	4.3%	4.2%	4.5%	4%
Aug 17	4.3%	4.2%	4.2%	4.6%
Jul 17	4.4%	3.9%	4.3%	5%
Jun 17	4.5%	3.9%	4.1%	5.1%
May 17	4.5%	3.7%	4.3%	5.1%
Apr 17	4.6%	3.9%	4.7%	5.3%
Mar 17	4.6%	4.2%	4.6%	5.3%
Feb 17	4.6%	4.4%	4.8%	5.2%
Jan 17	4.7%	4.6%	4.3%	5.8%
Dec 16	4.7%	4.7%	4.5%	5.4%
Nov 16	4.8%	5.1%	4.5%	5.8%
Oct 16	4.8%	5.3%	4.6%	5.7%
Sep 16	4.8%	4.9%	4.8%	5.6%
Aug 16	5%	4.8%	4.6%	5.4%
Jul 16	4.9%	4.9%	4.1%	5.3%
Jun 16	4.9%	5.2%	4%	5.8%
May 16	4.9%	5.4%	4.2%	5.7%
Apr 16	4.9%	5.7%	4.6%	5.6%
Mar 16	5%	5.9%	4.6%	6.1%
Feb 16	5%	6%	4.8%	6.3%
Jan 16	5%	6%	5.1%	6.1%
Dec 15	5%	5.6%	5.3%	5.9%
Nov 15	5%	5.4%	5.4%	6%
Oct 15	5%	5.7%	6%	6.2%
Sep 15	5.2%	6.2%	6.4%	6%
Aug 15	5.2%	6.4%	6.3%	6%
Jul 15	5.4%	6.1%	6.4%	6.1%
Jun 15	5.6%	5.7%	5.6%	6.3%
May 15	5.6%	5.4%	6.2%	6.2%
Apr 15	5.4%	5.7%	6.1%	6%
Mar 15	5.4%	5.8%	6.5%	6.2%
Feb 15	5.5%	5.7%	6.1%	6%
Jan 15	5.6%	5.6%	6.3%	6%
Dec 14	5.7%	5.3%	6.7%	5.8%
Nov 14	5.8%	5.8%	7.1%	5.9%
Oct 14	5.9%	5.8%	7.3%	6.4%
Sep 14	5.9%	6.1%	7%	6.2%
Aug 14	6%	5.7%	6.8%	6.3%
Jul 14	6.1%	6.2%	6.6%	6.6%
Jun 14	6.3%	6.4%	6.3%	6.5%
May 14	6.4%	6.8%	6.1%	6.6%
Apr 14	6.6%	6.5%	6.4%	6.7%
Mar 14	6.8%	6.3%	6.6%	7.1%
Feb 14	6.9%	6.3%	6.8%	7.6%
Jan 14	7.2%	6.7%	6.8%	7.4%
Dec 13	7.2%	7.2%	7%	7.3%
Nov 13	7.2%	6.6%	7.2%	7.3%
Oct 13	7.4%	7.4%	7.5%	7.6%
Sep 13	7.6%	7.4%	8.1%	7.4%
Aug 13	7.7%	7.6%	8.2%	7.4%
Jul 13	7.7%	7.6%	7.8%	6.9%
Jun 13	7.8%	7.3%	7.8%	7.3%
May 13	7.8%	7.4%	7.8%	7.7%
Apr 13	7.9%	7%	8.2%	7.6%
Mar 13	7.9%	7.2%	8%	8%
Feb 13	8%	7.1%	8.3%	8.1%
Jan 13	7.8%	7.3%	8.6%	8.3%
Dec 12	7.8%	7.6%	8.6%	7.6%
Nov 12	7.8%	7.8%	8.4%	7.8%
Oct 12	7.8%	7.9%	8.1%	7.8%
Sep 12	7.8%	8.2%	8.6%	7.7%
Aug 12	7.8%	8.4%	8.5%	8.2%
Jul 12	8%	8.3%	8.8%	8.2%
Jun 12	8%	8%	8.2%	7.7%
May 12	8.1%	7.9%	8.6%	6.9%
Apr 12	8.2%	8.1%	8.7%	7%
Mar 12	8.2%	8.2%	8.9%	6.7%
Feb 12	8.3%	8%	9%	6.6%
Jan 12	8.4%	8.5%	9.1%	6.4%
Dec 11	8.4%	8.6%	8.9%	7%
Nov 11	8.5%	8.7%	8.9%	6.7%
Oct 11	8.3%	8.8%	9.4%	6.9%
Sep 11	8.3%	8.1%	9.7%	7.3%
Aug 11	8.1%	8.1%	9.3%	7.5%
Jul 11	8.1%	7.6%	8.5%	7.4%
Jun 11	7.9%	7.9%	8.4%	7.3%
May 11	7.8%	7.7%	7.9%	7.1%
Apr 11	7.7%	7.8%	7.8%	7.2%
Mar 11	7.8%	7.9%	7.9%	7.3%
Feb 11	7.7%	8.1%	8.6%	7.3%
Jan 11	7.9%	8%	8.5%	7.9%
Dec 10	7.8%	7.9%	8.3%	7.9%
Nov 10	7.8%	8.2%	8.4%	7.8%
Oct 10	7.8%	8.5%	8.6%	7.5%
Sep 10	7.7%	8.4%	8%	6.9%
Aug 10	7.7%	8.5%	8.1%	6.9%
Jul 10	7.7%	8.8%	8.4%	6.7%
Jun 10	7.8%	8.4%	8.9%	6.6%
May 10	7.8%	8.3%	9.1%	7.1%
Apr 10	7.9%	8.2%	8.5%	7.1%
Mar 10	7.9%	8.3%	9.4%	6.9%
Feb 10	7.9%	7.9%	8.9%	6.5%
Jan 10	7.7%	7.7%	8.9%	6.3%
Dec 09	7.8%	7.6%	8.5%	5.9%
Nov 09	7.8%	7.3%	8.5%	6.7%
Oct 09	8%	6.8%	8.7%	6.5%
Sep 09	7.9%	7.2%	8.7%	7%
Aug 09	7.9%	7.1%	9.1%	6.8%
Jul 09	8%	7%	8.2%	6.4%
Jun 09	7.9%	7.1%	7.7%	6.5%
May 09	7.7%	6.8%	7.5%	6.3%
Apr 09	7.3%	6.7%	7.7%	6.3%
Mar 09	7.2%	6%	7.6%	6.2%
Feb 09	6.9%	5.5%	7.4%	5.9%
Jan 09	6.6%	5.2%	7.4%	5.7%
Dec 08	6.5%	5.2%	7%	5.2%
Nov 08	6.3%	5.2%	6.9%	4.3%
Oct 08	6.1%	5%	6.5%	4.4%
Sep 08	6%	4.7%	6.5%	4.1%
Aug 08	5.9%	4.6%	6%	4.1%
Jul 08	5.6%	4.2%	5.8%	4.1%
Jun 08	5.5%	4.2%	5.2%	3.9%
May 08	5.3%	4%	5.4%	4%
Apr 08	5.4%	4.4%	5.3%	4.1%
Mar 08	5.3%	4.7%	5.2%	4.5%
Feb 08	5.3%	4.9%	4.8%	4.1%
Jan 08	5.3%	5%	4.7%	4.2%
Dec 07	5.2%	4.8%	5%	4.2%
Nov 07	5.3%	4.8%	5%	4.4%
Oct 07	5.4%	4.5%	4.9%	4.1%
Sep 07	5.4%	4.9%	5.1%	3.9%
Aug 07	5.4%	4.6%	5.3%	3.6%
Jul 07	5.4%	4.9%	5.5%	3.2%
Jun 07	5.5%	4.6%	5.7%	3.6%
May 07	5.5%	4.9%	5.6%	4%
Apr 07	5.5%	5.1%	5.6%	4.2%
Mar 07	5.6%	5%	5.5%	4.1%
Feb 07	5.6%	5.1%	5.6%	4.5%
Jan 07	5.6%	4.9%	5.2%	4.1%
Dec 06	5.6%	5.1%	5.3%	4.3%
Nov 06	5.5%	5.1%	5.2%	4.4%
Oct 06	5.5%	5.2%	5.2%	4.7%
Sep 06	5.6%	5%	5.3%	4.8%
Aug 06	5.6%	4.8%	5.7%	4.5%
Jul 06	5.6%	5.3%	5.6%	4.4%
Jun 06	5.5%	5.6%	5.8%	4.2%
May 06	5.4%	5.8%	5.1%	4.3%
Apr 06	5.4%	5.3%	4.9%	4.8%
Mar 06	5.3%	5.4%	4.7%	4.2%
Feb 06	5.2%	5.3%	5%	4%
Jan 06	5.1%	5.1%	5.1%	4%
Dec 05	5.2%	5.1%	4.9%	4.6%
Nov 05	5.1%	5.3%	4.8%	4.8%
Oct 05	4.9%	5.5%	4.6%	4.2%
Sep 05	4.7%	5.4%	4.6%	4.3%
Aug 05	4.6%	5.2%	4.5%	4.6%
Jul 05	4.6%	5.5%	4.4%	5%
Jun 05	4.7%	5.5%	4.5%	4.9%
May 05	4.7%	5.7%	4.5%	4.6%
Apr 05	4.6%	5.5%	4.4%	4.7%
Mar 05	4.6%	5.5%	4.5%	4.7%
Feb 05	4.7%	5.5%	4.3%	4.8%
Jan 05	4.7%	5.7%	4.3%	4.6%
Dec 04	4.7%	5.6%	4.2%	4.7%
Nov 04	4.6%	5.5%	4.4%	5.3%
Oct 04	4.6%	5.4%	4.6%	5.2%
Sep 04	4.6%	5.2%	4.9%	5.1%
Aug 04	4.6%	5.8%	4.4%	4.7%
Jul 04	4.7%	5.9%	4.5%	4.9%
Jun 04	4.7%	6%	4.2%	5%
May 04	4.7%	5.9%	4.7%	4.7%
Apr 04	4.7%	5.9%	4.8%	5.1%
Mar 04	4.7%	5.8%	4.6%	5.2%
Feb 04	4.7%	5.6%	4.7%	5.3%
Jan 04	4.7%	5.7%	5.1%	5.6%
Dec 03	4.8%	5.8%	4.8%	6.3%
Nov 03	4.8%	5.8%	4.8%	6%
Oct 03	4.9%	5.8%	4.3%	5.8%
Sep 03	5%	5.9%	4.7%	5.6%
Aug 03	5%	5.8%	4.6%	5.6%
Jul 03	5%	5.5%	4.6%	5.2%
Jun 03	4.9%	5.3%	4.5%	5.1%
May 03	5%	5.4%	4.4%	5.2%
Apr 03	5.1%	5.7%	4.7%	5.2%
Mar 03	5.1%	5.9%	4.9%	5.3%
Feb 03	5%	6.1%	4.8%	5.6%
Jan 03	4.9%	5.9%	4.9%	5.6%
Dec 02	5%	6.1%	5.1%	5.6%
Nov 02	5.1%	6.2%	5.2%	5.5%
Oct 02	5.1%	6.4%	5.4%	5.8%
Sep 02	5.2%	6.4%	5.2%	6.2%
Aug 02	5.1%	6.4%	5.2%	6.2%
Jul 02	5%	6.4%	5.7%	5.6%
Jun 02	5%	6.3%	5.6%	5.5%
May 02	5%	6.8%	6%	5.5%
Apr 02	5%	6.6%	5.8%	5.9%
Mar 02	5%	6.6%	5.7%	6.2%
Feb 02	5%	6.5%	5.6%	6.1%
Jan 02	5%	6.8%	5.5%	6.1%
Dec 01	5%	6.7%	5.8%	5.8%
Nov 01	4.9%	6.6%	5.2%	6%
Oct 01	4.9%	6.6%	5.4%	5.7%
Sep 01	4.9%	6.7%	5.5%	6%
Aug 01	4.9%	6.6%	5.8%	5.9%
Jul 01	4.8%	6.6%	5.8%	6%
Jun 01	4.8%	6.2%	6.1%	6%
May 01	4.7%	5.8%	5.8%	6.3%
Apr 01	4.8%	5.7%	6%	6.4%
Mar 01	4.9%	6%	6.1%	6.3%
Feb 01	5%	6%	6.4%	6.1%
Jan 01	5%	6.1%	6.2%	5.9%
Dec 00	5.1%	6.3%	5.8%	6%
Nov 00	5.1%	6.3%	6.4%	5.6%
Oct 00	5.2%	6.6%	6.5%	5.7%
Sep 00	5.1%	6.6%	6.7%	5.5%
Aug 00	5.1%	6.3%	6%	5.8%
Jul 00	5.1%	6.6%	6.4%	6.4%
Jun 00	5.3%	7%	6.1%	6.7%
May 00	5.4%	7.6%	6.2%	7.1%
Apr 00	5.4%	7.6%	6.5%	7%
Mar 00	5.5%	7.5%	6.7%	6.6%
Feb 00	5.6%	7.5%	6.8%	6.8%
Jan 00	5.6%	7.2%	7.3%	6.4%
Dec 99	5.6%	7.1%	7.3%	6.6%
Nov 99	5.6%	7.1%	7.3%	6.5%
Oct 99	5.7%	6.6%	6.9%	7%
Sep 99	5.7%	6.9%	7.2%	7.1%
Aug 99	5.7%	7%	7.6%	7.5%
Jul 99	5.7%	7.2%	7.8%	7.5%
Jun 99	5.8%	7.1%	7.5%	7.6%
May 99	5.9%	7.4%	7.2%	7.4%
Apr 99	6%	7.1%	7.2%	7.4%
Mar 99	6%	7.4%	7.2%	7.2%
Feb 99	6%	7.3%	7.6%	6.9%
Jan 99	6%	7.5%	7.5%	6.8%
Dec 98	5.9%	7.7%	7.1%	6.8%
Nov 98	5.9%	7.7%	7.1%	7.3%
Oct 98	6%	7.7%	7.3%	7.4%
Sep 98	6%	7.6%	7.5%	7.9%
Aug 98	6.1%	7.4%	7.5%	8%
Jul 98	6.1%	7.5%	7.2%	7.3%
Jun 98	6.1%	7.4%	7%	7%
May 98	6.1%	7.4%	6.9%	7.5%
Apr 98	6.1%	7.5%	7.6%	8.4%
Mar 98	6.1%	7.6%	7.2%	8.5%
Feb 98	6.2%	7.4%	7.1%	8.4%
Jan 98	6.3%	7.1%	6.5%	8.5%
Dec 97	6.4%	7.3%	6.9%	8.8%
Nov 97	6.4%	7.5%	7.2%	8.6%
Oct 97	6.5%	7.7%	7.4%	8.8%
Sep 97	6.6%	8.1%	7.4%	8.6%
Aug 97	6.9%	8.4%	7.4%	8.2%
Jul 97	7.1%	8.5%	7.9%	8.3%
Jun 97	6.9%	8.6%	8.3%	8.1%
May 97	7%	8.5%	8.5%	7.8%
Apr 97	7%	8.4%	8.3%	8.4%
Mar 97	7.1%	8.5%	7.9%	8.7%
Feb 97	7.3%	8.7%	8.1%	9.4%
Jan 97	7.5%	9%	8.1%	9.1%
Dec 96	7.7%	8.8%	8.4%	9.3%
Nov 96	7.8%	8.8%	8.2%	9.8%
Oct 96	7.9%	8.7%	8.3%	9.7%
Sep 96	7.9%	8.5%	8.5%	9.9%
Aug 96	8%	8.3%	8.4%	10%
Jul 96	8.1%	8.1%	8.5%	10.1%
Jun 96	8.2%	8.5%	8.3%	10.6%
May 96	8.2%	8.7%	8.5%	9.7%
Apr 96	8.2%	8.8%	8.8%	9.6%
Mar 96	8.1%	8.9%	8.5%	9.1%
Feb 96	8.2%	8.8%	8.6%	9.4%
Jan 96	8.3%	9%	8.1%	9.4%
Dec 95	8.2%	9.1%	7.9%	10%
Nov 95	8.5%	9.1%	8.3%	10.3%
Oct 95	8.5%	8.9%	8.6%	10.8%
Sep 95	8.6%	9.1%	8.4%	10.2%
Aug 95	8.5%	8.9%	8.3%	10.8%
Jul 95	8.6%	8.9%	8.5%	10.4%
Jun 95	8.6%	8.7%	8.8%	10.9%
May 95	8.7%	8.4%	9%	11.2%
Apr 95	8.8%	8.5%	8.9%	11.3%
Mar 95	8.8%	8.5%	9.3%	11.2%
Feb 95	8.8%	8.4%	9.2%	11.3%
Jan 95	8.8%	8.5%	9.4%	11.5%
Dec 94	8.9%	8.8%	9.7%	11.3%
Nov 94	9%	8.9%	9.8%	11.4%
Oct 94	9.2%	9.2%	9.9%	11.3%
Sep 94	9.3%	9.3%	9.7%	11.5%
Aug 94	9.5%	9.5%	9.9%	11.8%
Jul 94	9.5%	9.9%	9.8%	11.9%
Jun 94	9.6%	10%	9.7%	11.9%
May 94	9.7%	10.1%	9.6%	11.8%
Apr 94	9.7%	10.1%	9.6%	12%
Mar 94	9.9%	10.1%	9.6%	12.1%
Feb 94	10%	10.2%	10%	12.1%
Jan 94	10.2%	9.9%	10.1%	12.2%
Dec 93	10.2%	10%	10%	12.2%
Nov 93	10.3%	9.7%	9.8%	12.3%
Oct 93	10.3%	10%	9.7%	12.2%
Sep 93	10.2%	9.9%	9.8%	12.3%
Aug 93	10.3%	10.1%	9.9%	12.5%
Jul 93	10.3%	10.2%	10%	12.6%
Jun 93	10.3%	10.2%	10.2%	12.8%
May 93	10.4%	10.3%	9.9%	12.8%
Apr 93	10.5%	10.5%	10.4%	12.9%
Mar 93	10.6%	10.4%	10.3%	12.6%
Feb 93	10.6%	10.8%	10.2%	12.4%
Jan 93	10.5%	10.7%	10.5%	12.4%
Dec 92	10.3%	10.8%	10.3%	12.3%
Nov 92	10.2%	10.2%	10.5%	12.4%
Oct 92	10%	10.4%	9.9%	12.3%
Sep 92	9.8%	10.2%	9.9%	12.3%
Aug 92	9.9%	10.1%	9.7%	12.4%
Jul 92	9.9%	9.5%	9.5%	12.3%
Jun 92	9.8%	9.5%	9.1%	12.4%
May 92	9.8%	9.7%	9.2%	12.3%