Redundancies surge to record high of 370,000

Redundancies rose to a record high of 370,000 in the three months to October as coronavirus continued to batter the UK economy, official statistics show.

The unemployment rate rose to 4.9% for the same period, up from 4.8%,

the Office for National Statistics said.

Firms laid off more staff in anticipation of the end of the furlough scheme, which was originally supposed to finish in October.

However, the wage support programme has since been extended until March.

ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan said redundancies had begun to ease in October, but this was before the second lockdown in England.

"Overall we have seen a continuation of recent trends, with a further weakening in the labour market," he said.

"The latest monthly tax numbers show over 800,000 fewer employees on the payroll in November than in February, with new analysis finding that over a third of this fall came from the hospitality sector."

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December 15, 2020 at 08:31PM

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-55313752