December labour market steady, hiring resilience supports firmer 2026 outlook
Unemployment rate held at 2.9% in December (Nov: 2.9%) for the second straight month, bringing the 2025 average to 3.0%, matching house forecast
- The number of unemployed fell (-0.1% MoM; Nov: -0.1%) for the second straight month.
- In absolute terms, unemployment eased to 517.7k (Nov: 518.4k), the lowest since Jan 2020 (511.7k).
- Actively unemployed, defined as those available for work and actively seeking jobs, declined to 412.4k (Nov: 413.5k), the lowest since March 2020. It share of total unemployed edged down to 79.7% (Nov: 79.8%).
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