There are warnings the pace of job losses is only set to accelerate as the country reels from COVID-19’s economic damage
Official data suggests that almost 650,000 workers in the UK have lost their jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic, amid fears that an employment crisis exceeding that of the one in the 1980s could occur.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has revealed that their data shows that 649,000 people left their company payrolls between March and June of 2020, covering the economy’s enforced lockdown to limit the spread of the coronavirus.
This comes after Boris Johnson has indicated at PMQs that he has not yet read the government-commissioned report that sets out urgent measures required to prepare for the potential of a second wave of COVID-19 pandemic, telling the Commons that he was only “aware” of it.
The figures, taken from HMRC, showed that there were 74,000 fewer people on the PAYE register compared to the previous month during June of 2020.
These figures were released in a week where the Office for Budget Responsibility warned that the UK could be facing an unemployment rate of around 13%, which exceeds three million people, from its current rate at 3.9% as joblessness begins to accelerate in spite of the continued government support for businesses and their wage bills.
Deputy national statistician Jonathan Athow said: “As the pandemic took hold, the labour market weakened markedly, but that rate of decline slowed into June, though this is before recent reports of job losses.
“There are now almost two-thirds of a million fewer employees on the payroll than before the lockdown, according to the latest tax data.”
“The Labour Force Survey is showing only a small fall in employment, but shows a large number of people who report working no hours and getting no pay.”
He added: “There are now far more out-of-work people who are not looking for a job than before the pandemic.”
Mr Hancock made these comments as he was setting out the government’s plan to make the wearing of face coverings compulsory in shops and supermarkets in England from the 24th of July.
Yael Selfin, the chief economist at KPMG UK, responded to the data covering June by saying it represented the “calm before the storm”.
He added: “Today’s figures point at the success of the government’s furlough scheme to shield the labour market from the worse of the immediate crisis.”
“But as the Job Retention Scheme unwinds in coming months, the full impact of the recession on unemployment is likely to be revealed.”
The minister for employment, Mims Davies, said:
“We know that people are worried about their livelihoods which is why we’ve put in place a Plan for Jobs.”
“A crucial part of that is doubling the number of frontline Work Coaches so that every jobseeker gets support to find work as well as launching the Kickstart scheme to create hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people across the country.”
