![\"Official](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/22faab166144d1dde55a2eeae57b1c97.jpeg\")
Official figures reveal deepening jobs woes in the retail and hospitality sectors (Alamy\/PA) (Alamy\/PA) <\/p>\n Official figures reveal deepening jobs woes in the retail and hospitality sectors (Alamy\/PA) (Alamy\/PA) <\/p>\n
Britain\u2019s unemployment rate has risen and vacancies tumbled to a five-year low in the first signs of the Iran<\/a> war taking its toll on an already under-pressure jobs market.<\/p>\n Official figures showed the jobless rate rose unexpectedly to 5% in the three months to March, up from 4.9% in the three months to February.<\/p>\n The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed another slowdown in wage growth, while it said vacancies and payroll worker numbers also tumbled amid a sharp pull-back in hiring across hard-hit retail and hospitality sectors.<\/p>\n The ONS<\/a> estimated the number of workers on UK payrolls also slumped by 100,000 during April to 30.2 million, which is the largest fall since May 2020 at the start of the Covid pandemic, though these figures are subject to revision.<\/p>\n It said vacancies dropped by 28,000 quarter on quarter to 705,000 in the three months to April, which is the lowest level since the same period in 2021.<\/p>\n Thomas Pugh, chief economist at RSM UK, said the plummeting payroll data was \u201cthe first sign that the energy shock is weighing on employment\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems inevitable that the unemployment rate will resume its upward trend in the months ahead,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n The figures follow recent warnings over rising unemployment as a result of an inflation spike caused by the Iran war and the impact on consumer spending and the wider economy.<\/p>\n The Bank of England last month predicted that even in its most positive forecast, unemployment would hit 5.5% in 2027, with this increasing to 5.6% in a more extreme impact scenario.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n