The number of UK workers on the payroll tumbled by 600,000 between March and May amid warnings of ‘disaster’.
Official figures showed employment was down 0.8 per cent in April, as the impact of the coronavirus lockdown started to be felt.
The jobless rate was up 0.1 per cent month-on-month while inactivity rose significantly and hours worked dropped – although the worst of the hit appears to have been offset by the massive furlough bailout scheme.
However, in a sign of the carnage to come the ONS gave early figures showing that the numbers on payroll plummeted between March and May.
The grim jobs data emerged as former Conservative leader William Hague demanded the two-metre rule is dropped.
In an analogy to the famous rescue of thousands of British soldiers from the beaches Dunkirk in France during the Second World Ward, Lord Hague described lockdown as a ‘heroic operation in itself but the result of a massive failure’.
And he urged the government to listen to his ‘official arch nemesis’, former Labour Prime Minister Tony Blair, and roll out testing on a ‘massive scale’ and stop ‘agonising’ over the two metre social distancing rule in order to save the UK economy.
His comments, made in his column in The Daily Telegraph today, came ahead of the release of new official unemployment figures by the Office of National Statistics.
New official unemployment figures were released by the Office of National Statistics today
Former Conservative leader William Hague (pictured) has today brandished the coronavirus lockdown a ‘disaster for society’ as he warned ‘there can be no second lockdown’
It is feared they will reveal a huge spike in unemployment following the outbreak of coronavirus in the UK.
Experts believe the full impact of the crisis will not be shown until August at the earliest because of the cushion of the furlough scheme, with
James Reed, of employment agency, Reed Group, told the BBC: ‘This is just the beginning. We are in for a major adjustment and unemployment could reach as high as 15 per cent.
‘I fear there is a pent up tsunami of job losses because the furlough scheme now has nine people on it and including the self employed. It means about a third of the workforce is inactive. My fear is that a lot of these people will lose their jobs at the end of this’.
In the column, Lord Hague said: ‘We now know therefore that a lockdown is not a temporary blip or a paid holiday, but a disaster for our society.
‘It is increasing inequality, social tension, and unaffordable debt.
‘Globally, the World Bank has estimated that up to 60 million people will be pushed into extreme poverty.
‘Such a disaster cannot under any circumstances be repeated. There can be no second lockdown.’
Lord Hague urged the government to cut the two meter social distancing rule and urged them to bring the distance in line with countries such as Denmark, France and Germany – where it is 1.5 metres.
He said the decision would save ‘great swathes’ of the hospitality industry.
Lord Hague also called on the government to listen to Tony Blair, who was Prime Minister during the former Conservative’s leader’s four year spell as Leader of the Opposition, and put in place a policy of mass testing in a bid to avoid a second lockdown.
Lord Hague also called on the government to listen to Tony Blair (pictured), who was Prime Minister during the former Conservative’s leader’s four year spell as Leader of the Opposition, and put in place a policy of mass testing in a bid to avoid a second lockdown
Lord Hague has called on Boris Johnson (pictured) to stop ‘agonising’ over the two metre social distancing rule in order to save the UK economy
He said this mass testing should involve ‘millions of test every week’ and should be carried out as people ‘arrive at work, attend conferences or just decide to go out.’
‘While the cost would run into billions of pounds, it would be very little compared to the costs of one day of lockdown.’ he added.
Yesterday, in a boost to the retail economy, shops reopened for the first time since the government introduced its draconian lockdown measures in March to slow the spread of coronavirus.
More than 41,000 people have died of Covid-19 in the UK so far, while there have been almost 300,000 confirmed cases – though actual figures are thought to be much higher.