Sharp rise in jobless seeking work after redundancy wave
The number of people looking for work has risen sharply as a wave of redundancies and ‘muted’ hiring threatens to send unemployment soaring.
A report by auditor KPMG and the Recruitment & Employment Confederation (REC) found ‘demand for workers continued to weaken’ last month.
The report said: ‘UK recruitment consultancies signalled sharper increases in the availability of both permanent and temporary workers in March.
‘Overall, the supply of labour expanded at the quickest rate in 2026 to date. There were frequent reports that redundancies and job scarcity had pushed up candidate numbers.’
Wave of redundancies: A report by auditor KPMG and the Recruitment & Employment Confederation found ‘demand for workers continued to weaken’ last month
Experts warned the conflict in the Middle East could delay any recovery – fuelling fears of further rises in unemployment from the current five-year high of 5.2 per cent.
REC chief executive Neil Carberry said: ‘The Gulf conflict provided a headwind to hiring in March.’
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