A woman wearing a protective face mask crosses the road in front of the Bank of England in what would normally be the morning rush hour in the City of London on March 17, 2020. The UK financial district is unusually quiet after the government asked people to remember yesterday all but essential journeys and activities.
Jonathan Perugia
Employment in the UK has seen its biggest quarter in more than a decade, according to official data published Tuesday.
The Bureau of National Statistics said estimates show that 32.92 million people were in employment between April and June, 113,000 more than a year earlier, but 220,000 less than the previous quarter.
This decline in employment, which affected both men and women, was the largest quarterly fall since May to July 2009.
Data for July showed that the number of employees on payrolls dropped by 730,000 compared to March, the ONS said.
“Research data show that employment is declining and unemployment has largely not changed due to increases in economic inactivity, with people unemployed but currently not looking for work,” it added.
The unemployment rate for April to June was 3.9%, covering the UK lockdown period which began in early March. However, the data are unlikely to show the true extent of job losses caused by the coronavirus due to the UK government’s furlough ‘scheme, which saw workers’ wages subsidized in a bid to stop employers of cuts.
Under the furlough program, the government has paid up to 80% of the monthly wages of workers up to £ 2,500 ($ 3,272), but it has said companies will have to share more of the cost of the scheme from August.
In response to the data, Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said the government was unable to maintain all jobs affected by the coronavirus crisis.
“I was always clear that we can not protect every job, but … we have a clear plan to protect, support and create jobs to ensure that no one is left without hope,” he said.
The latest data shows the number of people applying for unemployment benefits reached 2.7 million in July 2020, an increase of 116.8% since March.
“A large number of people are estimated to be temporarily away from work, including furloughed workers; about 7.5 million in June 2020, with more than 3 million of them for three months or more away,” the ONS said.
“New analysis shows that the youngest workers, oldest workers and those in manual labor were as elementary occupations who were probably temporarily away from paid work during the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).”
The CBI, a British business lobby group, said the data “shows the devastating sign left on the job market by the coronavirus crisis.”
“With the UK under strictly guarded measures to contain the virus in the quarter to June, fall in jobs and working hours is expected,” said Matthew Percival, director of CBI for People and Skills.
“More positively, there has been a slight rise in vacancies, particularly in the hairdressing industry as restrictions have been relaxed,” he added.
.
