Excluding the volatile period caused by the pandemic, job vacancies have fallen to their lowest level in a decade, according to official statistics that show the labour market continues to weaken.
The latest data from the Office for National Statistics, covering the three months to the end of June 2025, showed that there were 727,000 vacancies in the UK, down from 738,000 the previous month.
Employers have collectively offered fewer job opportunities every month for the past three years, since a post-pandemic peak of 1.3 million in May 2022. Apart from the period between April 2020 and April 2021, ONS data shows that vacancies are now at their lowest level since April 2015.
UK job vacancies
Steep reduction in recruitment in June
James Cockett, senior labour market economist for the CIPD, said that all of today’s data indicate that the labour market is cooling off, reducing recruitment pressures on employers.
“It’s becoming a harder jobs market for candidates with the number of unemployed per vacancy, a sign of labour market slack, reaching levels last seen in early 2016, again outside of the pandemic.”
The number of unemployed people per vacancy stood at 2.3 in the three months to the end of May 2025, its highest level since April 2021. Ignoring the pandemic, this number now stands at its highest level since March 2016.
Growth in average earnings excluding bonuses fell to 5.0%, down from 5.2%. The unemployment rate rose to 4.7%, up from 4.6%., while the employment rate also grew from 75.1% to 75.2%.
Recruitment and Employment Confederation chief executive Neil Carberry said: “While the overall levels of employment and unemployment remain reasonably steady, the trend is one of clear weakening across most measures.
“This reflects businesses’ reactions to rising costs and an uncertain external environment. Many firms are choosing to operate leaner in response to the current situation – we can see that in private sector temporary work outperforming other forms of hiring right now as firms seek flexibility.”
Early estimates for June 2025 indicate that the number of payrolled employees was 30.3 million, a fall of 0.6% from June 2024, equivalent to 178,000 fewer employees.
TUC general secretary Paul Nowak said: “Fragilities in the jobs market have been long in the making and are another toxic Tory legacy. It is good to see youth unemployment falling and falling rates of economic inactivity, but the jobs market remains far from full health and living standards are still under pressure.
“There is no overnight fix to these long-term issues. But after years of Conservative cuts, we finally have a government which is investing in public services, infrastructure and skills. The Bank of England must offer a helping hand instead of keeping interest rates high – another rate cut would ease the pressure on household budgets and make it more affordable for businesses to invest.”
Carberry added: “We should not let pessimism take hold – our data shows businesses are confident in their own plans, while households have rebuilt their cash position after the past few years. If government can increase businesses’ and families’ willingness to spend for the future, we would likely see a positive trend in both the labour market and the wider economy.
“A reduction in the interest rate next month will help with that but so will reassuring firms that they don’t face another swingeing tax raid in the Budget, and fixing the impracticalities in the Employment Rights Bill – a piece of legislation that is not yet suited to the modern workplace.”
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