56,000 Brits lost their jobs last month, taking the total number of losses to 813,000 over the past year of lockdowns, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS). While the continued existence of the furlough scheme is likely masking the true impact of lockdowns on the unemployment rate, ONS officials say there are some reasons to be optimistic. The Mail has the story.
More than 813,000 workers have lost their jobs since the start of the Covid crisis, it emerged today…
But there were further signs that the jobs sector is stabilising, with the first quarterly fall in the unemployment rate since 2019 between December and February and statistics signalling a near-16% jump in vacancies in March.
The unemployment rate eased back further to 4.9% from 5% in the previous three months, the ONS said.
Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said: “The latest figures suggest that the jobs market has been broadly stable in recent months after the major shock of last spring.
“The number of people on payroll fell slightly in March after a few months of growth.
“There are, though, over 800,000 fewer employees than before the pandemic struck, and with around five million people employed but still on furlough, the labour market remains subdued.
“However, with the prospect of businesses reopening, there was a marked rise in job vacancies in March, especially in sectors such as hospitality.”
BBC News reports that young people continue to bear the brunt of the crisis due to damage done to the hospitality and retail sectors.
People under 25 accounted for more than half of the payroll jobs lost in the year to March, it said – some 436,000 positions.
The Mail‘s report is worth reading in full.
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