Unemployment rates in London for men and women (Sep 1992 - Sep 2025)
Last updated: December 2025
Next estimated update: February 2025
What does this indicator show?
This indicator shows the proportion of Londoners that are unemployed, split by sex.
What does it tell us?
In September 2025, men were slightly more likely to be unemployed than women. 7.2% of men in London were unemployed, compared to 5.8% of women.
This bucks a recent trend - since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, women had had slightly higher unemployment rates than men. However, we need more data points before we can say if something significant is happening.
The overall unemployment rate is now around the same as the COVID-19 pandemic peak, but remains lower than the peak during the financial crisis of around 10% (in 2011).
The unemployment gap
Over the past three decades, the gender split has become more even overall. In 1993 the unemployment rate was more than 50% higher amongst men compared to women, but by the late 2000s the numbers were broadly similar for both genders.
In September 2025, the unemployment rate for men is 1.4 percentage points higher than for women
What does unemployment mean?
The unemployment rate is the percentage of people that are able or willing to work but don’t currently have a job. It only includes those who are looking for a job or are able to start work soon, and doesn’t count those who are of working age but unable to work or not looking for work. Instead, this group is counted as 'economically inactive', and includes people who are retired, studying, have caring responsibilities, or are too sick to work.