The number of UK workers on payrolls fell by 730,000 between March and July as another 81,000 jobs were lost last month, the Office for National Statistics has revealed.
The ONS said the dramatically low levels of unemployment were ‘in large part’ due to the coronavirus crisis, as hundreds of UK companies are battered by the pandemic.
The largest falls in employment were among the youngest and the oldest workers in ‘lower-skilled jobs’ while demand for workers ‘remains depressed’, the executive office of the UK Statistics Authority said on Tuesday morning.
The total number of weekly hours worked was 849.3 million between April and June – down a record 203.3 million hours on 2019 and 191.3 million hours on the previous quarter.
ONS deputy national statistician for economic statistics Jonathan Athow said: ‘The labour market continues recent trends, with a fall in employment and significantly reduced hours of work as many people are furloughed.
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‘Figures from our main survey show there has been a rise in people without a job and not looking for one, though wanting to work. In addition, there are still a large number of people who say they are working no hours and getting zero pay.
‘The falls in employment are greatest among the youngest and oldest workers, along with those in lower-skilled jobs.
‘Vacancies numbers began to recover in July, especially in small businesses and sectors such as hospitality, but demand for workers remains depressed.’
UK economists have warned that unemployment figures are likely to get worse, as government coronavirus schemes begin wrapping up.
Jack Kennedy, UK economist at the global job site Indeed, said: ‘Today’s figures offer an official snapshot of the labour market before the Job Retention Scheme started to be reined in at the end of July.
‘As that lifeline slowly comes to an end – and as unemployment is predicted to rise – there will be a scramble for available jobs during an inevitable rocky period for the economy.’
He added: ‘The problem for jobseekers is that the labour market has been turned upside down.
‘Not only are there far fewer jobs today than there were last year or even in early 2020, the mix of available roles has shifted too, which means some of the jobs people search for simply are no longer there.
‘We have already seen jobseekers react to fewer job postings by searching more outside their occupation, and with pockets of growth in sectors like food preparation & service, construction and cleaning & sanitation, there is hope for those who make the most of their transferable skills to get ahead of the inevitable competition.’
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