The UK labour market was all but frozen at the end of 2020, with unemployment edging up and a previous pick-up in hiring starting to stall as the surge in Covid-19 infections put reopening on hold.
The jobless rate rose to 5.1 per cent in the three months to December, a rise of 0.4 percentage points from the previous quarter and in line with expectations, official statistics showed on Tuesday. The employment rate of 75 per cent was 1.5 percentage points lower than a year earlier, with 541,000 fewer people in employment.
The figures suggest that the extension of the government’s furlough scheme has helped to limit redundancies. They will reinforce calls from business and unions for support to be extended well after the reopening of the economy begins to reduce the risk of a further surge in job losses.
“The government will need to provide ongoing help . . . the Budget next week needs to provide a bridge for businesses to begin the process of rescaling and…