Signs of stability despite rise in jobless rate

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of payrolled workers rose by 83,000 between January and February in the second small monthly increase in a row.

But the data showed the toll taken by the coronavirus crisis on the jobs market, with 726,000 fewer workers on payrolls since February 2020.

The rate of unemployment has also now hit 5.1% between October and December, which is the highest level since the autumn of 2015 and up from 5% in the previous quarter.

Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician at the ONS, said: “The latest monthly tax figures show tentative early signs of the labour market stabilising, with a small increase in the numbers of employees paid through payroll over the last couple of months – though there are still over 700,000 fewer people employed than before the start of the coronavirus pandemic.

“Almost three-fifths of this fall in employees since the onset of the pandemic came from the under-25s, according to a new age breakdown we are publishing for the first time today.

“Our survey shows that the unemployment rate has had the biggest annual rise since the financial crisis.”

Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “I know how incredibly tough the past year has been for everyone, and every job lost is a personal tragedy.

“That’s why throughout the crisis, my focus has been on doing everything we can to protect jobs and livelihoods.

“At the Budget next week I will set out the next stage of our Plan for Jobs, and the support we’ll provide through the remainder of the pandemic and our recovery.”