Coronavirus costs nearly 700,000 jobs

Around 695,000 workers have been removed from company pay rolls since March when the coronavirus lockdown began, according to official figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also said the rate of unemployment increased by 62,000 to 1.4million for the three months to July – bringing the national unemployment rate to 4.1%, in line with analyst expectations.

Companies have continued to announce redundancy programmes through the pandemic, with London City Airport the latest to reveal cuts as it announced 239 jobs losses on Monday.

The ONS said the increase in unemployment has particularly impacted young people, as it revealed a 76,000 rise in the number of unemployed people aged between 16 and 24 over the past year.

Meanwhile, the number of people in employment dropped to 32.98million, falling 12,000 since the previous quarter.

However, the rate of employment nudged 0.1 percentage points higher to 76.5%.

This was bolstered by a joint record high for the number of women in work across the UK, with 72.9% of women in work.

ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan said: "Some effects of the pandemic on the labour market were beginning to unwind in July as parts of the economy reopened. Fewer workers were away on furlough and average hours rose.

"Nonetheless, with the number of employees on the payroll down again in August and both unemployment and redundancies sharply up in July, it is clear that coronavirus is still having a big impact on the world of work."