A revision turned Britain's August payroll estimate from a loss into a gain, while figures released Tuesday put September employment 66,000 below its level a year earlier.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) and HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) estimated that 30.3 million people were on employer payrolls in September, down 0.2% from September 2025. The count rose by 13,000 from August but remained below a peak reached in 2024.
The monthly figures are provisional. After receiving additional employer submissions, the agencies changed their August estimate from a decline of 26,000 payroll employees to an increase of 1,000. Early estimates are based on around 85% of expected information on average; that share typically reaches 98% to 99% by the following month.
Median gross monthly pay reached £2,660 in September, up 4.4% from a year earlier. The pay measure and payroll count come from the Pay As You Earn tax system, which records employees paid through employers. The figures exclude self-employment income.
Payroll changes differed substantially by industry. Wholesale and retail had 71,000 fewer payroll employees than a year earlier, the largest decline in the release. Administrative and support services recorded the largest increase, adding 66,000.
For sectors highlighted in the release, median monthly pay was £4,332 in finance and insurance, compared with £1,444 in accommodation and food service activities. Those figures describe pay levels within the sectors; the payroll changes show how their employee counts moved over the year.
ONS and HMRC are scheduled to publish the next payroll release Nov. 17.
