The Office of National Statistics (ONS) has published the latest employment figures from March – May 2020. The figures showed 76.4% of people aged 16 to 64 were in paid work in March to May 2020. The unemployment rate was 3.9%, and the 16-64 economic inactivity rate (those who were neither working or looking for work) was 20.4%. This article explores the view that the latest official employment figures are masking the true extent of the UK’s employment crisis. The ONS data shows that the number of paid employees in Britain had fallen by 2.2 % (649,000) in June compared to March 2020. Commentators have argued that the situation is likely to worsen in the autumn and winter as the furlough scheme ends and young people enter the labour market, and that the figures don’t take into account the nine million workers that are currently on furlough and may not return to their jobs.
