Vacancies and jobs in the UK: March 2025

• Labour market overview, UK

• Average weekly earnings in Great Britain

• Earnings and employment from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, UK

• Employment in the UK

• Public sector employment, UK

• Vacancy numbers are broadly unchanged on the quarter; early estimates suggest a small increase of just 1,000 (0.1%) vacancies to 816,000 in December 2024 to February 2025.

• Total estimated vacancies were down by 98,000 (10.7%) in December 2024 to February 2025 from the level of a year ago; however, they remained 20,000 (2.5%) above their pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic January to March 2020 levels.

• The number of unemployed people per vacancy was 1.9 in November 2024 to January 2025; this is up by 0.1 from 1.8 in the previous quarter (August to October 2024).

• The estimated number of workforce jobs was 36.9 million in December 2024; this is an increase of 155,000 (0.4%) from September 2024, with the largest increase in the employee jobs component, which rose by 131,000 (0.4%).

• The estimated number of workforce jobs was up by 403,000 (1.1%) in December 2024 from the level of a year ago; human health and social work activities and professional scientific and technical activities showed the largest increases of 178,000 (3.7%) and 120,000 (3.6%), respectively.

Vacancy numbers remained broadly unchanged in December 2024 to February 2025. Early estimates show a small increase of just 1,000 (0.1%) vacancies to 816,000. Until this quarter, the total number of vacancies had declined for 31 consecutive quarters, since its peak of 1.3 million in March to May 2022.

The headline vacancy estimates are based on three-month averages, which naturally involve some time lag. We provide insights into trends in February 2025 in our Dataset X06: Single month vacancies estimates (see Section 7: Data sources and quality). We advise caution when comparing data sources, because the single-month data are not seasonally adjusted.

Further insights are provided in our Labour demand volumes by Standard Occupation Classification (SOC 2020), UK dataset, which are official statistics in development sourced from Textkernel data. These estimates will be updated regularly as part of our Economic activity and social change in the UK, real-time indicators bulletins. We advise caution when viewing these alternative data sources, because the data are not seasonally adjusted or directly comparable.

The number of unemployed people per vacancy was 1.9 in November 2024 to January 2025. This is up by 0.1 from 1.8 in the previous quarter (August to October 2024).

The estimated total number of vacancies increased by 0.1% from the previous quarter, increasing in 8 of the 18 industry sectors. The largest percentage increase in vacancies was in construction, at 17.3%, followed by arts, entertainment and recreation at 10.5%.

Early estimates of the number of vacancies suggest it increased on the quarter by 1,000 to 816,000 in December 2024 to February 2025. The industry with the largest increase in vacancies was construction, which rose by 6,000 vacancies.

When comparing December 2024 to February 2025 with the same time last year, total vacancies decreased by 98,000 (10.7%), with declines in 12 of the 18 industry sectors. The industries with the largest decrease in vacancies were wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, down by 24,000 vacancies, and accommodation and food service activities, down by 23,000 vacancies.

The total estimated number of vacancies remains 20,000 (2.5%) above its January to March 2020 pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic level. Public admin and defence; compulsory social security, and professional scientific and technical activities are the two industry sectors whose latest vacancies estimates are currently the highest above their January to March 2020 levels. They are 16,000 and 12,000 vacancies, respectively, above their pre-coronavirus level. 

There are six industry sectors whose latest vacancies estimates are below pre-coronavirus levels by a combined total of 48,000 vacancies. This includes wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, which has 34,000 fewer vacancies than at its pre-coronavirus level.

Two of the five industry size bands saw increases in the estimated number of vacancies on the quarter. The largest increase in vacancies was in businesses with nine or fewer employees, which rose by 7,000 (5.4%) vacancies in December 2024 to February 2025. The estimated number of vacancies decreased in all industry size bands over the year. The largest percentage decrease in vacancies was for businesses with 2,500 or more employees at 13.6%. This size band remains the only size band with vacancy estimates below its January to March 2020 pre-coronavirus level.

Workforce jobs (WFJ) estimates are provided by various sources. Estimates of employee jobs in the private sector are drawn from business surveys with a reference date of 13 December 2024. Estimates of self-employment jobs are drawn from our Labour Force Survey (LFS), which covers a three-month period from the start of November 2024 to the end of January 2025.

The estimated number of workforce jobs increased to 36.9 million in the UK in December 2024. This is a rise of 155,000 (0.4%) since September 2024. The quarterly increase was largely caused by an increase of 131,000 (0.4%) in employee jobs. More modest increases were seen in the other components of workforce jobs. There was a rise of 10,000 (0.2%) in self-employment jobs and 14,000 (34.6%) in government-supported trainees. HM Forces remained broadly unchanged.

The estimated number of workforce jobs increased on the year by 403,000 (1.1%). They continue to be at an historically high level, following a largely upward trend since September 2020. They are 1.2 million (3.5%) above their pre-coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic level.

Most industries saw an increase in workforce jobs. Our estimates show 13 of the 20 industry sectors increasing between December 2023 and December 2024. The industries with the largest annual increases in estimated workforce jobs were human health and social work, and professional, scientific, and technical activities. Human health and social work was up by an estimated 178,000 (3.7%) jobs, and professional, scientific, and technical activities was up by an estimated 120,000 (3.6%) jobs. Of the industry sectors with decreases in workforce jobs estimates on the year, the hardest-hit sector was wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles, which fell by 57,000 (1.2%) jobs.

The number of workforce jobs increased in 14 industry sectors on the quarter. This contributed to the increase of 155,000 in the total workforce jobs estimate. The industries with the largest quarterly increases in estimated workforce jobs were real estate activities, which was up by an estimated 30,000 (4.4%) jobs, followed by other service activities, which increased by 28,000 (3.0%) jobs. The industry sector with the largest fall on the quarter was accommodation and food services, which fell by 26,000 (1.0%) jobs.

Vacancies

Vacancies are positions for which employers are actively seeking recruits from outside of their business or organisation. The estimates are based on our Vacancy Survey, a survey of employers designed to provide estimates of the stock of vacancies across the economy, excluding agriculture, forestry, and fishing (a small sector for which the collection of estimates would not be practical). For more information, see Section 11: Vacancies in our A guide to labour market statistics methodology.

Jobs

A job is an activity performed for an employer or customer by a worker in exchange for payment, usually in cash, or in kind, or both. The number of jobs is not the same as the number of people in employment. This is because a person can have more than one job. The number of jobs is the sum of employee jobs from employer surveys, self-employment jobs from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), those in HM Forces and government-supported trainees. The number of people in employment is measured by the LFS. These estimates are available in our Employment in the UK bulletins. For more information, see Section 10: Jobs in our A guide to labour market statistics methodology.

A more detailed glossary is available.

Accredited official statistics

These accredited official statistics were independently reviewed by the Office for Statistics Regulation in April 2022. They comply with the standards of trustworthiness, quality and value in the Code of Practice for Statistics and should be labelled "accredited official statistics".

Revisions to vacancies

We have conducted a seasonal adjustment review of our Labour Force Survey (LFS) estimates, resulting in revisions to LFS estimates from January to March 2019 onwards. Our estimates of the unemployed people per vacancy and unemployment, published in our VACS01: Vacancies and unemployment dataset, will be affected by this.

We aim to include revisions of estimates of vacancies back to the start of the data series in 2001 in our next Vacancies and jobs in the UK bulletin, publishing on 15 April 2025. Revisions will result from a review of the seasonal adjustment parameters and from taking on updated sources of additional information. This is an annual process, as outlined in our Vacancy Survey Quality and Methodology Information (QMI).

Revisions to workforce jobs

From 17 December 2024 we have reinstated reweighted LFS estimates into our monthly publication, as stated on 3 December 2024 in our Impact of reweighting on Labour Force Survey key indicators: December 2024 article. The reweighting exercise creates a discontinuity in total workforce jobs, employee jobs, and self-employment jobs between December 2018 and March 2019, where there will be a step change. Therefore, users should avoid making comparisons with estimates from before March 2019. These LFS estimates are official statistics in development.

LFS reweighting does not address the volatility we have seen in recent periods and that we expect to see to some extent in the future. We advise caution when interpreting changes in headline rates and recommend using them as part of our suite of labour market indicators, alongside workforce jobs (WFJ), Claimant Count data, and Pay As You Earn Real Time Information (PAYE RTI) estimates.

We aim to include revisions of our estimates of workforce jobs back to 2023 in the June edition of our Vacancies and jobs in the UK bulletin, publishing on 10 June 2025. Revisions will result from taking on updated sources of additional information. This is an annual process that usually takes place in December each year, as outlined in our Workforce Jobs QMI. These revisions were delayed to enable us to take on reweighted estimates from the LFS, as mentioned in our Revisions to workforce jobs, UK: December 2024 article.

Important notes

Published data accompanying this release are presented as rounded figures. All changes presented in this bulletin are calculated from unrounded estimates. Therefore, users may calculate slightly different changes when using the accompanying data tables.

Making our published spreadsheets accessible

Following the Government Statistical Service (GSS) guidance on releasing statistics in spreadsheets, we will be amending our published tables over the coming months to improve usability, accessibility and machine readability of our published statistics. To help users change to the new formats we will be publishing sample versions of a selection of our tables, and where practical, initially publish the tables in both the new and current formats. If you have any questions or comments, please email labour.market@ons.gov.uk.

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Read more about how labour market data sources are affected by the coronavirus pandemic in our Coronavirus and the effects on UK labour market statistics article.

For a comparison of our labour market data sources and the main differences, read our Comparison of labour market data sources methodology.

Sources

The data in this bulletin come from surveys of businesses. It is not feasible to survey every business in the UK, so these statistics are estimates based on samples, not precise figures.

Vacancies

Estimates of vacancies are obtained from our Vacancy Survey, a survey of employers.

Jobs

Estimates of jobs are compiled from a number of sources, including Short-Term Employment Surveys (STES), the Quarterly Public Sector Employment Surveys (QPSES), and the Labour Force Survey (LFS). STES is a group of surveys that collect employment and turnover information from private sector businesses. In December of each year, the jobs estimates are "benchmarked" to the latest estimates from the Business Register and Employment Survey (BRES).

The STES estimates are drawn for a specified date early in the last month of each calendar quarter. The March 2020 data were from 13 March 2020 before the start of coronavirus (COVID-19) social distancing measures.

For more information on how jobs data are measured, please see Section 7: Measuring the data of our Vacancies and jobs in the UK: April 2021 bulletin.

More quality and methodology information on strengths, limitations, appropriate uses, and how the data were created is available in our Vacancy Survey QMI and Workforce Jobs QMI.

Sampling variability

The sampling variability of the three-month average vacancies level is plus or minus 1.3% of that level expressed as a coefficient of variation, giving a 95% confidence interval for estimates of approximately plus or minus 32,000.

The sampling variability of the three-month average vacancies level for a typical industrial sector is around plus or minus 6% of that level.

Information on the strengths and limitations of this bulletin are available in Section 8: Strengths and limitation of our Vacancies and jobs in the UK: April 2021 bulletin.