Payrolled workers rise and unemployment rate falls despite furlough ending
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said payrolled workers jumped by 0.6% between September and October to 29.3 million – “well above” levels seen before the pandemic struck.
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Hide AdThe unemployment rate also fell once more to 4.3% between July to September, down from 4.5% between June and August, in spite of the furlough scheme coming to an end on September 30.
The ONS said survey responses so far suggest only a small number of redundancies have been made among the 1.1 million still on furlough when the scheme closed.
Sam Beckett, ONS head of economic statistics, said: “It might take a few months to see the full impact of furlough coming to an end, as people who lost their jobs at the end of September could still be receiving redundancy pay.
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Hide Ad“However, October’s early estimate shows the number of people on the payroll rose strongly on the month and stands well above its pre-pandemic level.”
She added: “There is also no sign of an upturn in redundancies and businesses tell us that only a very small proportion of their previously furloughed staff have been laid off.”
The data also showed that job vacancies reached a new record high, up 388,000 between August and October to 1.17 million as the reopening of the economy continued to drive demand for recruitment.