MNI DATA IMPACT: UK Jobs Lost, But Unemployment Rate Flat

UK job losses accelerated in July as more than 220,000 jobs were lost in the second quarter, the biggest three-month decline since Q2 2009, the latest employment report released on Tuesday by the Office for National Statistics showed.

UK companies shed 114,00 paid roles between June and July, for a record-high 2.2% annual fall in an HMRC-derived series dating back to 2015. That's an acceleration from the downwardly-revised fall of 20,000 in June (from a previously reported 74,4000). ONS officials were unable to say whether the increase in job shedding between June and July was related to the opening of non-essential shops in mid June.

According to the Labour Force Survey, employment fell by 220,000 in the second quarter, the biggest fall since the three months to July of 2009. The claimant count rose by 94,400 in July, taking the claimant rate to 7.5%, the highest level since February of 1996. However, that includes claimants for benefits other than JobSeekers' Allowance and may overstate the level of unemployment.

Remarkably, the LFS unemployment rate remained unchanged at 3.9%, well below forecasts of a rise to 4.2%. Some 300,000 workers classified themselves as "away from work" rather than unemployed over the second quarter, keeping the jobless rate from rising further, according to a National Statistician.

Self-employed workers have been severely hit during the economic lockdown, with a record-high 238,000 losing jobs in the second quarter, after a 178,000 decline in the three months to May. That takes the self-employment rate (as a proportion of all employment) down to 14.5% from 15.3% at the end of last year.

HOURS WORKED

Hours worked continued to slide, hitting a record-low 25.8 in the second quarter, down from 26.6 in the three months to May.

Vacancies fell by 274,000 in the three months to July compared to the February to April period. However, a slight pick up in recent weeks took the number of vacancies up to 370,000 from a record-low 337,000 in the three months to April.

Earnings fell in both nominal and real terms. Regular earnings, ex-bonus, declined by 0.2%, the biggest fall on record (series began in 2001). Total earnings fell by 1.2%, the largest decline since the financial crisis. Real total earnings, adjusted for inflation, plunged by 2.0 in the second quarter, the biggest fall since Q1 2012, while real regular earnings slipped by 1.0%, the largest decline since Q2 2014.