The UK unemployment rate unexpectedly remained unchanged in the three months to April, but workers on company payrolls fell 612,000 between March and May while job vacancies plunged to a record low.
The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.9 per cent between February and April, new data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed, surprising economists who had predicted the figure to increase as coronavirus lockdown measures hammered the economy.
Read more: Number of workers on UK furlough scheme nears 9m
Between March and May, the UK recorded the largest quarterly decrease in job vacancies since records began in 2001. During the period there were an estimated 476,000 vacancies in the UK – 342,000 fewer than in the previous quarter.
The number of people on company payrolls fell by 612,000 or 2.1 per cent between March and May as lockdown continued to hurt the labour market.
The jobless claimant count increased in May to 2.8m – a monthly increase of 23.3 per cent. Since March 2020, when lockdown began, UK jobless claims have increased 125.9 per cent or 1.6m.
The three months to April also saw a record quarterly fall in the number of self-employed people in the UK, which decreased 131,000.
The number of hours worked between February and April crashed 8.9 per cent or 94.2m – a record annual decrease, despite only half the period covered being affected by coronavirus lockdown measures.
Pantheon Macroeconomics’ Samuel Tombs said dara showed that the government’s coronavirus job retention scheme “has succeeded in preventing massive job losses so far” but meant that the unemployment rate has been kept “in suspended animation” as those on furlough are not counted as unemployed.
Tombs warned that “a second wave of redundancies remains likely when financial support for employers who furloughed workers is wound down between August and October”.
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The UK unemployment rate had been widely expected to drop between February and April, but instead remained unchanged month-on-month. Year-on-year, the unemployment rate rose 0.1 percentage points.
The ONS estimated that the UK employment rate was 76.4 per cent, 0.3 percentage points higher than a year earlier but 0.1 percentage points down on the previous quarter.
“The furlough scheme continues to hold off the bulk of job losses, but unemployment is likely to surge in the months ahead,” said Tej Parikh, chief economist at the Institute of Directors.
Read more: We must be ready for further stimulus, says Bank of England’s Andrew Bailey
“Wage support has given firms some much-needed time to regroup,” he continued. “Despite these efforts, activity will inevitably be below normal for some time as social distancing continues, and employment looks set to take a hefty hit. Salaries and vacancies are also likely to keep falling as businesses aim to keep costs down.”
“As many as a quarter of firms have said they will struggle to pay anything toward furloughed workers’ pay come August. More bad news could be just round the corner, as redundancy consultation periods kick in,” Parikh added
https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMiR2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNpdHlhbS5jb20vdWstdW5lbXBsb3ltZW50LXJhdGUtdW5jaGFuZ2VkLWRlc3BpdGUtbG9ja2Rvd24v0gFLaHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuY2l0eWFtLmNvbS91ay11bmVtcGxveW1lbnQtcmF0ZS11bmNoYW5nZWQtZGVzcGl0ZS1sb2NrZG93bi9hbXAv?oc=5
2020-06-16 06:33:00Z
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