London: Employment in the U.K. has seen its largest quarterly fall in over a decade, according to official data published Tuesday.
The Office for National Statistics said estimates show 32.92 million people were in employment between April and June, 113,000 more than a year before, but 220,000 fewer than the previous quarter.
This decrease in employment, which affected both men and women, was the largest quarterly fall since May to July 2009.
Data for July showed that the number of employees on payrolls fell by 730,000 compared with March, the ONS said.
“Survey data show employment is weakening and unemployment is largely unchanged because of increases in economic inactivity, with people out of work but not currently looking for work,” it added.
The headline unemployment rate for April to June was 3.9%, covering the U.K.’s lockdown period that began in late March. However the data is unlikely to show the true extent of job losses caused by the coronavirus because of the U.K. government’s “furlough” scheme, which saw it subsidize the wages of workers in a bid to stop employers making job cuts.
Under the furlough program, the government has paid up to 80% of workers’ monthly wages up to £2,500 ($3,272), but it has said companies have to share more of the costs of the scheme from August.
Responding to the data, U.K. Finance Minister Rishi Sunak said the government was una
