Jonathan Reynolds comment on new ONS stats that show the number of workers on UK payrolls is down by 695,000

“These new figures are deeply concerning, over 5 million people are not working and 2.5 million have been out of work for three months or more.

Unemployment will continue to rise unless the Government acts now and adopts a more flexible approach targeted at the sectors that need it most”

Ends

Notes to Editors

ONS release here and summary bullets below:

• May to July figures show an increase in the unemployment rate; despite this increase and an increase in the number of redundancies.
• Early estimates for August 2020 from Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) indicate that the number of payroll employees fell by 2.4% (695,000) compared with March 2020.
• The Claimant Count increased in August 2020, reaching 2.7 million; this includes both those working with low income or hours and those who are not working
• Though still large, the reductions in total hours worked both on the year and the quarter are smaller than last month, with the May to July period covering a time when some of the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown measures started to be eased.
• Vacancies in the UK in June to August 2020 were at an estimated 434,000; this is almost 30% higher than the record low in April to June 2020.
• The rate of decline in employee pay growth slowed in July following strong falls in the previous three months; growth has been affected by lower pay for furloughed employees and reduced bonuses; with some employees returning to work, nominal regular pay growth is back positive for May to July 2020 after being negative in the three months to June 2020.