Workers on UK payrolls tumble and unemployment claims soar during lockdown

UK workers on company payrolls slumped by more than 600,000 between March and May and unemployment claims soared by 1.6 million as the coronavirus lockdown hammered Britain's labour market, official figures have revealed.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said early estimates showed the number of paid employees dropped by 2.1% or 612,000 in May compared with March, while job vacancies also slumped to a record low last month.

Jobless claims under Universal Credit jumped 23.3% month-on-month in May to 2.8 million and have rocketed 125.9% or 1.6 million since March, when the UK was placed in lockdown.

The grim ONS data also showed the number of people temporarily away from work, including furloughed workers, rose by six million at the end of March into April.

This saw hours worked each week tumbled by a record 94.2 million, or 8.9% year-on-year, in the three months to April, the ONS said.

But the UK jobless rate remained largely unchanged quarter-on-quarter at 3.9% in the three months to April.

Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician for economic statistics at the ONS, said: "The slowdown in the economy is now visibly hitting the labour market, especially in terms of hours worked.

"Early indicators for May show that the number of employees on payrolls were down over 600,000 compared with March.

"The claimant count was up again, though not all of these people are necessarily unemployed."

He added: "More detailed employment data up to April show a dramatic drop in the number of hours worked, which were down almost 9% in the latest period, partly due to a six million rise in people away from work, including those furloughed."