UK Unemployment Hits 5% as Youth Joblessness Reaches 11-Year High

UK labour-market data released on 19 May 2026 showed the ILO unemployment rate climbing to 5.0% for March, above the 4.9% consensus. Employment surprised higher with a +148k gain, while average weekly earnings accelerated to +4.1% year-on-year. However, April payrolls dropped sharply by 100k and job vacancies fell to a five-year low of 705,000. Youth unemployment reached an 11-year high of 16.2%. The mixed report prompted the FTSE 100 to rise around 0.7% as investors trimmed expectations for near-term Bank of England rate hikes.