London
Britain’s unemployment rate rose by more than expected in the three months to August, before the end of the government’s broad coronavirus job-protection plan and the imposition of new restrictions to slow the pandemic.
The jobless rate hit 4.5 percent, its highest in more than three years and above the forecast of 4.3 percent in a Reuters poll of economists. The number of people counted as unemployed rose by the most since 2009, during the global financial crisis, and the Office for National Statistics revised up its estimate of job losses earlier this year, raising its estimate of unemployment in the three months to July to 4.3 percent. “Since the start of the pandemic there has been a sharp increase in those out of work and job hunting but more people telling us they are not actively looking for work,” said Jonathan Athow, ONS deputy national statistician.— Reuters
