UK early-career employment
Explore how payrolled jobs have changed across sectors and age groups.
Data through December 2025 · Source checked 23 October 2026
Source checks scheduled quarterly; new observations depend on HMRC's release timetable.
Read the special report · Report PDF · Download data (CSV)
Information and communication
December 2022 to December 2025
- Aged 18 to 24
- -30.0%
- All aged 18+
- -6.7%
- Gap versus all 18+
- -23.4 pp
This category includes employers with no assigned industry. Classification changes can dominate its movement.
| Age group | Jobs | Index |
|---|
Compare sectors
Aged 18 to 24 and all aged 18+. December 2022 to December 2025.
| Sector | 18 to 24 | All 18+ |
|---|---|---|
| Information and communication | -30.0% | -6.7% |
| Finance and insurance | -9.7% | +2.3% |
| Administrative and support services | -7.7% | -1.7% |
| Public administration and defence; social security | -5.1% | +2.1% |
| Manufacturing | -5.0% | -3.9% |
| Professional, scientific and technical activities | -3.4% | +1.4% |
| Health and social work | -1.6% | +8.0% |
| Education | 0.0% | +1.4% |
| Other service activities | +0.1% | +2.6% |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | +1.2% | -1.6% |
| Construction | +2.6% | +0.4% |
| Agriculture, forestry and fishing | +4.9% | +0.5% |
| Mining and quarrying | +5.0% | Unavailable |
| Accommodation and food service activities | +5.9% | +2.3% |
| Transportation and storage | +5.9% | +2.6% |
| Real estate | +10.0% | +4.6% |
| Water supply, sewerage and waste | +11.0% | +7.4% |
| Energy production and supply | +16.2% | Unavailable |
| Arts, entertainment and recreation | +16.8% | +8.3% |
All 18+ includes the selected age group. Gaps are percentage points. The mixed households, extraterritorial and unknown category is excluded from the comparison table but available in the sector selector.
Sources and methodology
HMRC publication, updated 22 May 2026. Original workbook (ODS). Coverage: July 2014 to December 2025.
These are payrolled jobs, not unique people, vacancies or direct measures of entry-level roles. Counts include all nationalities and sum male and female employments. Self-employment is excluded. Figures are not seasonally adjusted; the one-year comparison uses the same month. Longer baseline comparisons may include seasonal differences if the latest release does not end in December.
Index = monthly count ÷ baseline count × 100. Change = latest count ÷ baseline count × 100 − 100. Suppressed observations stay missing; totals are unavailable when any component is suppressed. Current employer industry classifications apply across the historical series, which can be revised.
A scheduled check runs in January, April, July and October. Validated data and source-check updates are published automatically. Failed checks leave the existing data in place. If HMRC has not released new observations, coverage stays unchanged. The dated report and PDF remain separate snapshots.
Source: HM Revenue & Customs. Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0.