Pandemic took more jobs before second lockdown
Around 33,000 people were dropped from payrolls at UK employers last month, as the pandemic continues to weigh on the economy. It helped push the unemployment rate to 4.8%, up 0.9 percentage points on a year earlier, according to official estimates.
The Office for National Statistics revealed that payrolled employment was lower in October than it had been in September, and has dropped by 782,000 since March this year, when the pandemic struck.
In the three months to September, redundancies were at a record high of 314,000, the official statisticians revealed.
It came even as payrolls increased slightly in September itself.
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.”
Published: by Radio NewsHub