UK unemployment rises to 5%, the highest level in four years

ONS says jobs market worsening before budget, as HMRC reports falling number of workers on firms' payrolls

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Unemployment in the UK has risen by more than expected to the highest level in four years, official figures show, amid a worsening slowdown in the jobs market before Rachel Reeves's autumn budget.

With under three weeks to go before the chancellor's tax and spending statement, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the headline unemployment rate rose to 5.0% in the three months to the end of September, up from 4.8% in the previous quarter.