![\"Panoramic,](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/fun-facts-river-thames-london-1024x663.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Sven Hansche, Shutterstock<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tPhoto: Sven Hansche, Shutterstock<\/p>\n
Save<\/p>\n
London\u2019s jobs market is deteriorating fast, with unemployment almost doubling in less than two years and retail and hospitality bearing the brunt of the downturn.<\/p>\n
Official figures from the Office for National Statistics show London\u2019s unemployment rate jumped to 7.2% in the September-November 2025 quarter, the highest in the country and the worst for the capital since the winter 2021 lockdown.<\/p>\n
That compares with a low of 3.8% in the three months to January 2024, meaning the share of Londoners out of work has almost doubled in under two years.<\/p>\n
London unemployment rate doubles in less than two years\u200b <\/p>\n
The number of payrolled employees in London<\/a> fell by 1.1% over 2025, the sharpest annual decline since the pandemic, underlining how the capital has been hit harder than any other UK region.<\/p>\n Westminster recorded the steepest local fall in employment of any authority in the country, with jobs down 3% in the year to December, signalling strain in the West End\u2019s visitor\u2011 and office\u2011dependent economy.<\/p>\n Young people, Newham and East Ham hit hardest <\/p>\n The pain is not being shared evenly. Younger Londoners are facing the most acute jobs crisis, with the youth unemployment rate rising from 16.6% to 18.8% in the year to September. By contrast, unemployment among 35 to 49\u2011year\u2011olds remained broadly steady at 3.9%, highlighting a stark generational divide in labour market security.<\/p>\n The highest joblessness in the UK is now found in London <\/p>\n Geographically, the highest joblessness in the UK is now found in London.<\/a> Newham\u2019s unemployment rate stands at 8.7%, the highest of any local authority area nationally. Within that, the East Ham parliamentary constituency records an alarming 17.8% unemployment rate, the worst in the country, exposing deep\u2011rooted vulnerabilities in some of the capital\u2019s most deprived communities.<\/p>\n Retail and hospitality under pressure <\/p>\n ONS payroll data suggests much of the damage is concentrated in customer\u2011facing sectors that traditionally provide entry\u2011level roles and flexible work. Nationally, there were 184,000 fewer payrolled employees at the end of 2025 than at the start, a 0.6% decline, with retail losing about 72,000 jobs and hospitality almost 70,000 over the year.<\/p>\n Health and social services bucked the trend, adding 37,000 jobs, followed by public administration with 16,000 extra roles, but this expansion was not enough to offset losses elsewhere. Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said reductions have been \u201cconcentrated in retail and hospitality\u201d and reflect \u201congoing weak hiring activity,\u201d with vacancies broadly flat over the past six months after a long decline.<\/p>\n