2020.08.1107:00:00UTC+00UK Employment Declines Sharply

UK employment declined sharply in the second quarter amid the coronavirus pandemic, data from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday. In three months to June, employment declined 220,000 from the previous quarter to 32.92 million.

The employment rate dropped 0.2 percentage points to 76.4 percent in the June quarter.

In July, about 730,000 fewer people were in paid employment when compared with March 2020, data showed. The number of people out of work decreased 10,000 sequentially to 1.34 million in three months to June. The unemployment rate was largely unchanged at 3.9 percent, data showed. Economists had forecast the rate to rise to 4.2 percent. In three months to June, total nominal pay fell 1.2 percent on the year and regular nominal pay dropped 0.2 percent. This was the first negative pay growth in regular nominal earnings since records began in 2001, the ONS reported.

In July, claimant count increased by seasonally adjusted 94,400 from the previous month compared to economists' forecast of 10,000.