UK unemployment rises ahead of coronavirus hit
UK unemployment rose in the three months to January although Britain continued to add jobs, suggesting the labour market tightened before coronavirus began to spread through the country.
Unemployment rose to 3.8 per cent, up 0.2 percentage points from the previous quarter. Yet the employment rate also rose, hitting 76.5 per cent, a joint record high, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
“Today’s figures show continuing record employment but also a slight rise in unemployment on the year,” ONS statistician David Freeman said. “This is because we also see a record low rate for people neither working nor looking for work.”
The UK economy slowed in January, registering zero growth even before coronavirus took hold.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson yesterday recommended Britons avoid “unnecessary social contact” and avoid pubs, restaurants and theatres. Such advice could contain the virus but is likely to decimate the economy.
Yet in the three months to January, the number of people in work rose by 184,000 to 32.99 million, the ONS said, driven by record increases in full-time and female employment.
However, unemployment also rose by 63,000 in the three months to January, the biggest increase since 2011, as more people began looking for work.
Thomas Pugh, UK economist at Capital Economics, said: “Strong employment growth at the start of the year is a rare bit of good news for the economy at the minute.
“But this growth will give way to a plunge in employment at the start of the second quarter.”