UK unemployment rises to 4.2%, according to official data

ONS uses ‘alternative’ figures for three months to end of August, with jobs market appearing to cool

Unemployment is up in the UK, according to new experimental official data, rising 0.2% in the three months to the end of August to 4.2% when compared with the previous quarter.

Over the same period, the number of people in work fell by 0.3 percentage points to 75.7%, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, suggesting that Britain’s jobs market is cooling. Vacancies fell below 1m to 988,000, a drop of 43,000 and the 15th consecutive quarterly fall, the ONS said.