UK unemployment rate rises as pandemic continues to dent jobs market
By Michele Maatouk
Date: Tuesday 10 Nov 2020
(Sharecast News) - The UK unemployment rate rose in September as the coronavirus pandemic continues to dent the jobs market, according to figures released on Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics.
The unemployment rate increased to 4.8% from 4.5% in August, in line with analysts' expectations.
The data also showed that the number of workers on payrolls fell by 782,000 between March and October, with a 33,000 decline last month. Meanwhile, redundancies hit a record high of 314,000, up 181,000 on the quarter.
Vacancies continued to recover but are still below the levels seen before the impact of the pandemic. There were an estimated 525,000 vacancies in August to October, up 146,000.
ONS deputy national statistician for Economic Statistics, Jonathan Athow. said: "The latest monthly tax numbers show over three-quarters of a million fewer employees on the payroll in October than in March.
"Unemployment grew sharply in the three months to September, with many of those who lost their jobs earlier in the pandemic beginning to look for work again. The number of redundancies has also reached a record high.
"Vacancies continued to recover from the very low numbers seen earlier in the year. However, these figures predate the reintroduction of restrictions in many parts of the UK."
Ruth Gregory, senior UK economist at Capital Economics ,said the previous unwinding of the furlough scheme has hurt employment and there is worse yet to come.
She said the rise in the unemployment rate suggests the previous scaling back of the furlough scheme took its toll. "And with the second lockdown set to send the recovery into reverse, the unemployment rate may yet climb to about 9% next year," she added.
"In response to the government asking firms to shoulder a greater burden of the cost of their furloughed employees, firms reduced their staffing levels at a sharp pace in September."
Email this article to a friend
or share it with one of these popular networks:
You are here: news
10 Lower Thames St,
London EC3R 6EN