Almost 830,000 Britons have lost their jobs since the start of the pandemic as unemployment reaches a record high, official data has revealed.
In December there were 28.2 million people on the UK payroll – 828,000 fewer than there were last February before coronavirus hit, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
Unemployment climbed to 5% for the first time in four years in the three months to November, after another 202,000 people lost their jobs.
The UK redundancy rate jumped by 10 points over a year to hit 14.2 per 1,000 in the three months to the end of November – the highest rate ever recorded.
Parts of London followed by north-eastern Scotland have been hit the hardest, reveals the latest official data.
Head of economic statistics Sam Beckett said: ‘In the three months to November, on our survey data, the employment rate fell sharply again, while the unemployment rate rose to hit 5% for the first time in over four years.
‘The number of people saying they had been made redundant in the previous three months remains at a record high.
‘Meanwhile vacancies, which were rising in summer and early autumn, have been falling in the last couple of months.’
This is a breaking news story, more to follow…
source https://metro.co.uk/2021/01/26/uk-redundancy-rate-hits-record-high-as-unemployment-rises-by-5-13964804/