The UK's largest independent producer of official statistics, responsible for the census, labour market data, inflation indices, and GDP estimates. Based in Newport, Wales, it operates independently of government.

How many job vacancies are there in the UK in 2026?

ONS reported 721,000 vacancies in March 2026 — unchanged for the sixth consecutive publication. Payrolled employees fell 96,000 year on year; real wage growth was 0.4% against 3.8% nominal.Source: ONS

Does ONS track AI job losses in the UK?

No. ONS has no AI-specific breakdown in its labour market reporting, a measurement gap that mirrors the BLS's in the United States. Six consecutive months of flat vacancy counts at 721,000 give no explanatory framework for what is driving the stall.Source: ONS

Background

The Office for National Statistics is the UK's largest independent producer of official statistics, responsible for the census, labour market surveys, inflation indices, and GDP estimates. Based in Newport, Wales, it reports to Parliament through the UK Statistics Authority and operates independently of government departments. Its monthly labour market bulletin is the primary data source for UK employment policy and the Bank of England's rate decisions.

The June 2026 bulletin reported UK youth unemployment (aged 16 to 24) at 14.7% — a 12-year high last seen in 2014 — with 22.7% of young jobseekers out of work for more than a year. Total job vacancies stood at 705,000, payrolled employment was down 210,000 year on year, and the rate of long-term youth unemployment signals structural rather than cyclical damage. Earlier bulletins had shown vacancies in a prolonged freeze: the March 2026 figure of 721,000 was unchanged for six consecutive publications before the subsequent decline.

As with the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the ONS carries no AI-specific attribution layer in its reporting. The absence of any AI breakdown across six months of flat and then falling vacancy counts means that policy makers, the Bank of England, and organised labour are all reading the same blunt aggregate instrument with no explanatory framework for technology-driven displacement. The UK Government's projection of 3.9 million AI jobs by 2035 is published against the same evidence base, sharpening the contrast between official optimism and labour market reality.