New figures have revealed that the number of paid employees in the UK has fallen by nearly 650,000 during the lockdown. Tara Pilkington reports.
It has also been revealed that in June alone, the ongoing coronavirus pandemic claimed another 74,000 jobs.
Early estimates from the Office for National Statistics have shown that the number of workers on company payrolls has fallen by 0.3% compared with the previous month, and that universal credit claimant numbers have risen by 112.2% since March when England initially went into lockdown.
As a result of this, the number of those seeking employment has risen by 253,000 in the quarter leading up to May. However, the current 9.4million people who are on furlough are still classed as employed, so the number of those seeking employment is expected to rise dramatically in October when the support scheme is set to end.
Trade Union Congress (TUC) general secretary Frances O’Grady has warned: “There’s a national disaster unfolding, with vacancies at an all-time low and more jobs lost every day.
She added: “We can create jobs by fast-tracking infrastructure projects,” and said that “This would speed up the delivery of faster broadband, more childcare, green technology, modern transport and housing. And it would create over a million jobs.”
As this story continues to unfold, we need to ensure that the government is doing all that they can to safeguard vulnerable industries and provide support to those who have unfortunately lost their jobs.
