Europe

Home page

Europe

UK jobless claims jump to highest since 1996 as COVID hits

19 May 2020 13:46 (UTC +04:00)

The number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Britain leapt in April to its highest level in nearly 24 years, giving the clearest sign yet of the hit from the coronavirus to jobs which is set to deepen in the coming months, APA reports citing Reuters.

Data published on Tuesday showed the claimant count rose by 856,500 — the biggest ever month-on-month jump — to 2.1 million, a 69% increase from March.

It was the highest level since July 1996, when Britain’s economy was still recovering from a deep recession caused by its failed bid to stay in the European Exchange Rate Mechanism, which had pushed interest rates to 15% in 1992.

April’s surge would have been even sharper without an emergency government programme to pay 80% of the wages of 8 million employees — or about one in four workers — put on temporary leave, who are not counted as unemployed.

“I think we should be prepared for the unemployment rate to increase significantly,” Secretary of State for Work and Pensions Therese Coffey told BBC radio.

Recent changes to Britain’s welfare system mean the claimant count number includes more people than normal who are still in work but have suffered a big drop in earnings. But the surge in claims showed the scale of the hit to the labour market.

“While only covering the first weeks of restrictions, our figures show COVID-19 is having a major impact on the labour market,” Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician at the Office for National Statistics, said.

A Reuters poll of economists had produced a median forecast for a leap of 676,500 in the claimant count, with forecasts ranging widely from just over 56,000 to as high as 1.5 million.

Tej Parikh, chief economist at the Institute of Directors, said the government’s wage subsidy scheme was holding off some job losses for now but it was not clear how firms would react when they are required to help fund it from August.

“Many companies will still be in the middle of a cashflow crisis,” he said. “Government faces an onerous task in winding down the scheme without causing too much pain.”