Bradley Thomas on unemployment, 2 November 2026: holds up

The claim

Unemployment has gone up by 276,000 in the last two years, and we are destined to see it go up even more.

Bradley Thomas, 2 November 2026, House of Commons, Budget Resolutions. Source

The result: It holds up

The official figures support this claim. It was tested on one point and passes it. Every figure below is the ONS's own, read from its data, with an archived copy listed under Receipts.

Point by point

• Point 1, the change: holds up. The claim gives a rise of 276,000 in the last two years. The ONS number of unemployed people, aged 16 and over (thousands) went from 1436thousand^src in the three months to August 2024 to 1712thousand^src in the three months to August 2026, a rise of 276,000, which matches it allowing for rounding.

The latest official figure

• The Office for National Statistics reports the UK number of unemployed people, aged 16 and over (thousands): 1712thousand^src

This figure updates automatically when the ONS publishes a new one. The figures in the points above stay pinned to the period they cover, and any ONS revision to them is shown on this page with its date.

How this check works

• Why this claim: it was chosen automatically as the day's fact check from 1 claim stating a current national figure in official announcements and Parliament between 30 October 2026 and 6 November 2026. Claims the official figures contradict come first, the furthest off first; when every claim holds up, the boldest one is checked.
• The figure: a claim passes if it matches any of the ONS's last 4 readings published before it was made (or the month it names), within the rounding it uses. "3.8%" must be between 3.75% and 3.85%; "4%" between 3.5% and 4.5%; "more than", "nearly" and "about" are read as written.
• The trend: "risen" or "fallen" is tested against the reading before; for a growth rate, "grew" means growth above zero.
• The record: "highest since 2023" passes if no reading after 2023 was as high; "a record" passes if no earlier reading was.
• The change: "up 276,000 in two years" is tested on the ONS readings that far apart, ending at any of its last four readings before the claim; "since the election" starts from the ONS periods covering 4 July 2024.
• What is skipped: forecasts, targets, plans, questions, and figures for a region, a group of people or a past year, because the latest national figure can't speak to them.

To dispute a point, send a correction request with an official source. A confirmed error is corrected on this page with a dated note.