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\t\tEmployment among 16 yo 64 year-olds slipped to 75 per cent\t<\/p>\n\t\t\tTuesday 17 February 2026 11:51 am
\n\t\t\t\t\t\u00a0|\u00a0\u00a0Updated:\u00a0<\/p>\n
\t\t\tWednesday 18 February 2026 12:44 am\n\t<\/p>\n
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\t\tEmployment among 16 yo 64 year-olds slipped to 75 per cent\t<\/p>\n
Unemployment has risen to 5.2 per cent, the highest level since 2021,<\/a> as the UK\u2019s labour market continues to cool. But how much of that stagnation can reasonably be attributed to AI?<\/p>\n The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS)<\/a> figures show the jobless rate climbed in the three months to December, while the number of pay-rolled employees fell by 134,000 year on year in January to 30.3m.<\/p>\n Employment among 16 to 64 year-olds slipped to 75 per cent, and redundancies are trending higher. Meanwhile, wage growth is also losing momentum, with annual growth in regular play slowing to 4.2 per cent.<\/p>\n Private sector pay has risen just 3.4 per cent, its weakest pace since 2020. And, adjusted for inflation, real wage growth stands at a marginal 0.5 per cent.<\/p>\n According to Liz McKeown, director of economic statistics at the ONS, payroll numbers had \u201cfell further in the final quarter of the eyar, reflecting weak hiring activity\u201d, while the ratio of unemployed people per vacancy has reached a new post-pandemic high.<\/p>\n \t\tThe shift to automation<\/p>\n Businesses across the country are dealing with a sour cocktail of higher employer national insurance contributions, increased minimum wage and patchy economic growth.<\/p>\n Vacancy numbers have stabilised at the 726,000 mark, although they remain well below COVID-19 heights. Yet there are alarming signs that AI adoption is increasing influencing hiring decisions at the margin.<\/p>\n Research from Morgan Stanley recently found that UK firms using AI reported net job losses over the past year, with early-career positions particularly exposed.<\/p>\n A different survey by Helm saw 33 per cent of British scale-up founders expect AI-driven redundancies within the next year, while 58 peer cent are already slowing or pausing hiring altogether as automation soars.<\/p>\n Justin Moy, managing director at EHF Mortgages, said: \u201cWith the emergence of AI now able to undertake tasks at a fraction of the cost of humans, company owners are switching to cheaper alternatives and we will see more unemployment unless the tax burden is reduced significantly\u201d.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\tRead more<\/p>\n