MNI BRIEF: BOE Qrtly Bulletin Notes Weak UK Job Mkt in H2 2020

UK businesses continue to see a weaker employment outlook in the second half of 2020, the Bank of England's Quarterly Bulletin, published Friday, sums up, pulling out data from the bank's own Decision Makers' Panel. The data largely draws on evidence laid down in the previous DMP survey, covered by MNI earlier in September.

The survey, conducted before Chancellor Rishi Sunak's statement on Sept 24, showed that 36% of UK employees were on furlough in April, dropping to 12% by August, and is expected to be close to zero at some point in Q4 (furlough scheme officially ends on Oct 31). Businesses planning to reduce employment further in the second half of 2020 were typically those who had previously furloughed a relatively large share of the employees, but these were often also businesses who had seen a large fall in sales in Q2 and expected a relatively slow recovery, the BOE quarterly report notes