The number of redundancies in the UK has risen at the fastest rate since records began as the economic fallout from Covid-19 and scaling-back of the government’s furlough scheme drives up unemployment.
The Office for National Statistics said 227,000 redundancies were made in the three months to August, an increase of 114,000 from the level in June and the fastest rise on record.
Against a backdrop of rising concern over job losses as the government scaled back the furlough scheme, the headline unemployment rate increased to 4.5% in the three months to August – representing 1.5 million people out of work – up from 4.1% in July.