The UK unemployment rate has surged to its highest level in over three years as the pandemic continues to hit jobs.
The unemployment rate grew to 4.5% in the three months to August, compared with 4.1% in the previous quarter.
Meanwhile redundancies rose to their highest level since 2009, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
It comes as the government prepares to impose tough local lockdown rules that will force some businesses to close, potentially leading to more job losses.
Who has been affected?
According to the ONS, an estimated 1.5 million people were unemployed between June and August, while redundancies stood at 227,000.
Jonathan Athow, the ONS’s deputy national statistician for economic statistics, said there had been a “sharp increase” in those out of work and job hunting since March.
“Overall employment is down about half a million since the pandemic began and there are particular groups who seem to be most affected, young people in particular,” he told the BBC’s Today programme.
“[Of those out of work] about 300,000 are aged 16-24, so about 60% of the fall in employment… that’s really disproportionate.”
Mr Athow said the large number of redundancies had been focused on sectors such as hospitality, travel and recruitment.
The number claiming work related benefits, meanwhile, hit 2.7 million in September – an increase of 1.5 million since the beginning of the crisis in March.
What do the unemployed say?
Sophia Royle was a project manager working for an e-learning firm. She was put on furlough in May, but then made redundant at the end of August.
“The jobs market is now flooded with people that have been made redundant and are looking for jobs,” she says.
The problem is that because of the changing nature of the market, she is no longer just competing against people who live locally.
“A lot of these jobs are remote. They’re online,” she says. “That means you’re competing with the whole of the UK.”
Sophia and her partner are worried about paying the mortgage. She is also six months pregnant and only qualifies for statutory maternity leave, which she will start receiving in December.
“I’ve stopped looking for jobs, because how can I approach someone with that piece of news, that I’m not going to be around in six weeks’ time?” she says.
Will things get worse?
Most expect unemployment to rise further after the government’s furlough scheme is replaced with a less generous wage support package in November.
On top of this, from this week tougher local restrictions will force pubs, bars and other hospitality and leisure businesses in England to close in the most infectious areas, as has already happened in parts of Scotland.
The government has offered to pay two thirds of workers’ wages if their employer is affected, but some say this falls short.
“The fallout from the Covid-19 recession is intensifying,” said Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics.
“What’s more, the prospect of the latest Covid-19 restrictions leading to the economic recovery stalling, if not going into reverse, means worse lies ahead.”
Analysis from Citibank suggests the unemployment rate could hit 8.5% in the first half of 2021 – a level not seen since the early 1990s.