Today’s jobs report also shows that unemployment climbed during the last quarter.
In October alone, the ONS estimates that the UK jobless rate hit 5.2%, up from 4.9% in September, 4.8% in August, and 4.6% back in July.
These single-month figures are more volatile than the quarterly figures (showing a rise to 4.9% in Aug-Oct), so should be used with some caution.
Reuters puts it: “For much of the period covered by Tuesday’s data, finance minister Rishi Sunak rejected calls to extend his broad job retention scheme beyond a scheduled October 31 expiry, raising fears of an acceleration in job losses.
“But, as a second wave coronavirus cases hit the country, Sunak was forced to announce a last-minute, one-month extension of the scheme, which he quickly extended again until the end of March 2021.”
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