Unemployment rises in March – our response

May 19, 2026

Rising unemployment and fewer job opportunities is the result of endless cost increases for hospitality businesses.

New figures from the ONS reveal:

1
Unemployment rose to 5% in the three months to March.
2
Youth unemployment reached 14.7%, the highest level since late 2014.
3
An early estimate reveals the number of payrolled employees fell by 100,000 in April, compared to the month before.

The ONS said that hospitality ‘has seen some of the largest falls’ in payroll numbers, both in recent months and over the last year.

Our response

Kate Nicholls, Chair of UKHospitality, said: “The Government’s approach to balance the books on the backs of high street businesses is resulting in rising unemployment and fewer job opportunities, particularly for young people.

“The past two Budgets have inflicted more than £5 billion of additional costs onto hospitality businesses, forcing them to cut jobs, slash hours and scrap plans for new roles.

“Today’s figures are clear evidence that hospitality has been disproportionately affected, as the ONS itself calls out and we warned would be the case.

“There are dark clouds on the horizon still, as provisional data for April projects a further 100,000 job losses across the economy. This is clearly reflective of businesses responding to mammoth April cost increases, across wages and business rates.

“If the Government wants to grow the economy and get people back into work, it needs hospitality’s help. Rather than taxing jobs out of the sector, it should reduce our weighty cost burden to allow businesses to create jobs.

“That should start with a cut to VAT for hospitality and proper reform of business rates for the entire sector.”