The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published its latest labour market overview for April 2020, which gives estimates employment, unemployment, economic inactivity and other employment-related statistics for the UK. The figures which cover the period prior to the implementation of the COVID-19 social distancing measures show that the UK employment rate for the 3 months to February 2020 was estimated at a record high of 76.6%, which was 0.4 percentage points higher than a year earlier. The CIPD has commented on the figures and also notes that separate figures, released on 20 April, by the Institute for Employment Studies (IES), found job vacancies fell 42 per cent since lockdown started last month. Further analysis on the ONS figures can be read in this article, which also highlights the number of firms already furloughing staff due to the current crisis.
