314K BRITS LAID OFF IN 3 MONTHS
Record number are given boot
MORE people were made redundant between July and September than at any point on record.
Around 314,000 redundancies were registered during the three months, up by 181,000 from the quarter before, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The data suggests unemployment reached 4.8% in the three months to September.
It is an increase of 0.7 percentage points on the quarter before and 0.9 percentage points from a year ago.
Meanwhile, around 33,000 people were dropped from payrolls last month, adding to the 782,000 reduction since March this year, when the pandemic struck.
ONS statistician Jonathan Athow said: “The latest monthly tax numbers show over three- quarters of a million fewer on the payroll in October than in March.
“Unemployment grew sharply in the three months to
September with many of those who lost their jobs earlier in the pandemic beginning to look for work again. “The number of redundancies has also reached a record high.”
Since the figures were taken, several parts of the country have re- entered various stages of lockdown, including severe restrictions which were put in place last week.
As a result, Chancellor Rishi Sunak decided to extend the furlough scheme until March, ensuring that employees who cannot work will get up to 80% of their salaries.
Suren Thiru, of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “The extension to the furlough scheme will safeguard a significant number of jobs. However, with firms facing severely diminished cash flow and revenue, further rises in unemployment remain likely in the coming months.” He called for more grants for businesses hurt by restrictions.