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Bloomberg
UK jobless claims increased last month as the coronavirus pandemic began to have an impact on the labour market.
Claims rose 12,200 compared with a 5,900 gain in February, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday. The claimant count rate rose to 3.5%, the highest since the start of 2014.
Unemployment is sure to keep rising after the government extended the lockdown for at least three more weeks, ensuring that much economic activity will remain on hold. Economic output could shrink 35% this quarter, according to the Office for Budget Responsibility, the country’s fiscal watchdog.
The claimant-count was taken on March 12, almost two weeks before Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered a nationwide lockdown in an attempt to stop the spread of the virus. Some firms will have started to feel the economic effect of the pandemic, however.
A further sign of weakness came in real-time information based on tax records. A flash estimate for March showed the number of people in paid employment fell the most in over four years. The figure declined almost 18,000 from February, a drop of 0.06%.
The International Labour Organisation jobless rate was 4% in the three months through February. That may rise to 10% after the pandemic, the fiscal watchdog said.
Wage growth slipped to 2.8% in the December-February period, with the figure excluding bonuses dipping to 2.9%. Both were the lowest since mid-2018. But employment rose to a record, suggesting the labour market was strengthening before the virus took hold.