Yorkshire and Humber employment numbers dropped by around 7,000 year-on-year, data shows
Around 7,000 less people were employed in Yorkshire and the Humber in the year ending September 2025 than the year before, according to new data.
Latest employment and pay data shows the number of employees on payroll in the Yorkshire and Humber region was down by 7,087 in the year to September 2025, compared with the year ending September 2024.
The data also showed signs of a return to business confidence in recent months, however, with a sustained recovery in numbers since June, and the total number of workers on payroll up over the summer.
Pay for employees was up just over six per cent during the last year, leading to a median monthly salary of around £2,000.
Speaking on the figures, Paul Hebden, director of Employment and pay data firm, Wagesight, said: "The last few months have looked more positive for employment in Yorkshire and the Humber, with what looks like a reversal of the drop in the number of employees throughout the majority of the last 12 months.
“Meanwhile pay was up 6.18 per cent for payrolled employees over the last year with the median monthly salary standing at £2,404 which means households are keeping ahead of inflation.
“However, September’s -0,50 per cent drop in median monthly salaries reported across the region, comes after a long period in which salaries were rising. It will be vital to see how wages hold up over the next few months, especially given ongoing cost of living pressures faced by households.”
It comes as most areas in Yorkshire and the Humber reported a drop in salaried employees.
Employers in the East Riding area reported a 0.2 per cent rise in salaried employees in the year to September, with York – the only other area where employers reported an overall rise on payroll – reporting a one per cent lift.
Employers in Calderdale and Kirklees reported a 0.6 per cent drop in salaried employees, while Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham reported a 0.5 per cent drop.
North Yorkshire also reported a 0.5 per cent fall in salaried employees, with both Bradford and Wakefield reporting a drop of 0.4.
The figures come amid a mixed picture across the UK as a whole, with the total number of people in employment at 30,324,232 in September 2025, down 0.33 per cent on the year and down by 0.3 per cent on the month, according to official data analysed by WageSight.
The median UK salary stood at £2,430 in September, up 6.4 per cent in the last year and ahead of inflation of 3.5 per cent. However, there were signs that wage growth is starting to stall with wages down 0.9 per cent between August and September.