Labour market briefings
Every month, once the Office for National Statistics publishes its labour market figures, we write a briefing for the councils, housing associations, funders and businesses we work with.
It reads the headline numbers, the revisions behind them, and what they can and can't yet tell us. It follows what's happening to entry-level jobs and to young people, tracks the trends that hold across the year, and says what we're seeing in our own work and how we're responding. Each issue is here in full: the summary on the page, the whole briefing to download.
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Latest briefing
October 2026
Following the ONS labour market release of 20 October 2026.
The labour market is broadly flat, with tentative signs of improvement in hiring. Learning and Work Institute described it as relatively flat on the day of the release. Resolution Foundation and Indeed both pointed to early signs of stabilisation. Unemployment fell to 4.7% in June to August, and the number of people on payrolls rose slightly in September.
Briefing notes
Longer notes on a single question.