WIREDGOV

The Work Foundation at Lancaster University responded to the labour market figures for October 2026 released by the Office for National Statistics. Ben Harrison, Director of the Work Foundation at Lancaster University commented:

“Today's figures show a fall in unemployment, but the Government should not be complacent ahead of next week’s Budget. The UK is still amidst a jobs drought with vacancies at their lowest for over 12 years outside of the pandemic.

“In particular, there are now 715,000 young people aged 16–24 unemployed, down by 28,000 on the quarter. Nevertheless, the number of young people out of work remains 54,000 higher than 12 months ago.

“For too many young people there are simply not enough suitable jobs available to them. Overall, vacancies have fallen to 691,000 – the lowest level outside the pandemic since 2014 – while Work Foundation research shows that adverts for starter jobs have almost halved over the past.

“This jobs drought risks locking young people out of employment before they have even had the chance to get started. With the Budget just days away and a Comprehensive Spending Review due next year, now is the time for Government to focus on tackling the shortage of jobs before it gets worse in communities where opportunities are scarcest.

“For those young people living in communities that have endured decades of economic decline, the answer is not only more job placements, work experience of employer incentives. The focus must be on boosting the number of good quality, well-paid employment opportunities on offer. Government should back Mayors and local leaders to play their part by creating a new, devolved Community Jobs Fund – funding that could be utilised to create more than 50,000 youth jobs in local services such as care, community centres and libraries.”