AI Data Insight
The UK's unemployment rate rose to 4.6% in the second quarter of 2025 (Q2 2025), continuing its upward trend from 4.5% in the previous quarter and touching the highest level since 2021. Hit by increased tax burdens and persistently high borrowing costs, corporate hiring willingness has cooled significantly, and wage growth has simultaneously slowed. The market expects that the weakness in the labor market will provide the Bank of England (BoE) with more ample justification to continue its rate-cutting cycle to support the real economy.