Unemployment rose by 50,000 to 1.35m in three months to March as report shows youngest and oldest workers are hardest hit by coronavirus crisis
- Unemployment figures show a rise of 50,000 people in three months to March
- A report by the Resolution Foundation found younger people facing pay cuts
- The report also warns older workers face risk of being made involuntary retired
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Unemployment rose by to 1.35 million in the three months to March as the labour market was struck by the coronavirus lockdown, new figures have today revealed.
Official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show unemployment increased by 50,000 in the quarter.
It also announced that early estimates for April 2020 indicate that the number of paid employees fell by 1.6 per compared to March, as firms began to feel a greater impact from the lockdown.
Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician for economic statistics at the ONS, said: ‘While only covering the first weeks of restrictions, our figures show Covid-19 is having a major impact on the labour market.
‘In March employment held up well, as furloughed workers still count as employed, but hours worked fell sharply in late March, especially in sectors such as hospitality and construction.
‘Through April, though, there were signs of falling employment as real-time tax data show the number of employees on companies’ payrolls fell noticeably, and vacancies were sharply down too, with hospitality again falling steepest.’
It comes as a new study today suggests that young and older workers across Britain are being hardest hit when it comes to reductions in pay during the coronavirus crisis.
Meanwhile older workers, who are also seeing their pay cut, are facing the added risk of being of becoming involuntary retired before their pension age, the research suggests.
The report, from think-tank the Resolution Foundation, warned wage reductions and job losses could hit the incomes of some workers in younger and older age brackets permanently, with younger workers facing the misery of having their pay being scarred for years to come.
One charity described the findings as ‘concerning’ and warned it could have ‘worrying ramifications for young people’s longer term health outcomes’.