Ministers can boost the UK economy by reducing trade barriers and securing closer ties with the EU, campaigners have urged, as the unemployment rate rose to its highest level for nearly four years.
The jobless rate jumped to 4.6% in the three months to April, the highest level since July 2021, according to official figures released by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) today.
While pay growth for the UK's workforce eased by more than expected, the figures also suggested, with regular earnings including bonuses dropping to 5.2% over the same period.
The data coincided with firms facing a hike in national insurance contributions in April, which had been announced in October’s budget, as well as a rise in the minimum wage.
Responding to the Office for National Statistics (ONS) latest jobs data, which shows the unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in the three months to April 2025, Naomi Smith, Chief Executive of Best for Britain, said:
"While funding public services is vital, UK businesses and employees need confidence and stability to invest, grow and hire, and to feel a sense of security and pride in their work.
“No set of policies can boost the British economy, support our entrepreneurs - and generate the grassroots growth this government must deliver - like reducing trade barriers and securing closer ties with the EU across every industrial sector, and Best for Britain’s polling shows voters know this is common sense.”