Unemployment increased by 22,000 to 1.36m before coronavirus pandemic gripped UK

Unemployment was rising before the lockdown
REUTERS
Luke O'Reilly21 April 2020

Unemployment increased by 22,000 to 1.36 million in the three months to February, before the coronavirus pandemic gripped the UK, official figures showed.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of job vacancies plunged by 52,000 to 795,000 for the quarter.

Economists also revealed on Tuesday that unemployment increased by 22,000 to 1.36 million in the three months to February, before Covid-19 gripped the UK.

David Freeman, ONS head of labour market statistics, said they were able to use PAYE data for the first time to cover a more recent period.

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Mr Freeman said: “Our final data wholly from before the coronavirus restrictions were in place showed the labour market was very robust in the three months to February.

“For the first time, we have brought forward information on the number of employees in work using PAYE data to cover a more recent period.

“These experimental statistics show a softening picture in March, but cover the month as a whole, including the period before the coronavirus restrictions were in place.”

It comes as the World Health Organisation (WHO) has said rushing to ease coronavirus restrictions will likely lead to a resurgence of the illness.

The warning comes as governments across the world start rolling out plans to get their economies up and running again.

Dr Takeshi Kasai, the WHO regional director for the Western Pacific, said: “This is not the time to be lax. Instead, we need to ready ourselves for a new way of living for the foreseeable future.”

He said governments must remain vigilant to stop the spread of the virus and the lifting of lockdowns and other social distancing measures must be done gradually and strike the right balance between keeping people healthy and allowing economies to function.

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