The number of persons not in the labour force in Q1 2026 was 1,579,100, which was up 62,700 (+4.1%) from a year earlier.
Persons aged 15 years or over are classified as not being in the Labour Force (Inactive) if they do not satisfy the ILO criteria for being classified as Employed or Unemployed – see Background Notes.
The Potential Additional Labour Force (PALF) is the sum of the two groups ‘Seeking work but not immediately available’ and ‘Available for work but not seeking work’. Persons in the PALF are not part of the standard labour force, which encompasses only Employed and Unemployed people, but they have a stronger attachment to the labour market than other persons not in the labour force.
The Potential Additional Labour Force for Q1 2026 was 103,700, which was made up of 84,700 persons Available but not seeking work and 19,000 persons Seeking but not immediately available for work. The total PALF of 103,700 is down from 118,000 in Q1 2025.
| Q1 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q1 2026 | |
| Available for work but not seeking work | 85700 | 98900 | 84700 |
| Seeking work but not immediately available | 16600 | 19000 | 19000 |
Of those who stated that they wanted to work but were not seeking work or available for work in Q1 2026, 27.8% said this was due to education or training. This compares to 29.5% a year earlier. Persons not seeking work due to own illness or disability accounted for 32.7% of the total in Q1 2026, up from 31.7% in Q1 2025.
| Q1 2024 | Q1 2025 | Q1 2026 | |
| Other reasons | 14100 | 15700 | 14300 |
| Care responsibilities/personal family reasons | 27700 | 20600 | 20200 |
| Own illness or disability | 24800 | 29700 | 28600 |
| Education or training | 27300 | 27700 | 24300 |
Detailed breakdown of persons not in the Labour Force is available in Supplementary Table S5 - LFS Time Series.
Additional data on Potential Labour Supply with explanatory notes are available in QLF30.
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