LONDON: The number of people in work in Britain fell by the most since 2009 in the three months through June as the coronavirus crisis took a heavy toll on the labor market, even with the government’s huge jobs protection scheme still in place.
Led by a record plunge in self-employed workers, there were 220,000 less people employed in the second quarter, the Office for National Statistics said.
Separate tax data for July showed that the number of staff on company payrolls had fallen by 730,000 since March, sounding the alarm about a potentially much bigger rise in joblessness.
Mounting job losses are expected as Britain winds down its job retention scheme which protects employees. It is due to close at the end of October.
“The cracks evident in the latest batch of labor market data are likely to soon turn into a chasm,” said Ruth Gregory, senior economist at Capital Economics.
British finance minister Rishi Sunak said the figures showed the government’s support programs were working but job losses were inevitable.
“I’ve always been clear that we can’t protect every job, but ... we have a clear plan to protect, support and create jobs to ensure that nobody is left without hope,” he said.
The unemployment rate unexpectedly held at 3.9 percent but that reflected an increase in people who had given up looking for work and who were therefore not considered to be unemployed, and people who said they were in work but were getting no pay.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected the unemployment rate to rise to 4.2 percent. Last week the Bank of England forecast the jobless rate would hit 7.5 percent at the end of this year.
“Government needs to step in and help those who are likely to lose their job retrain for new openings in different sectors,” KPMG economist Yael Selfin said.
The number of self-employed people fell by a record amount in the three months to June, led by older workers, while the number of employees rose — something the ONS said was partly accounted for by workers reclassifying themselves as employed.
The number of people claiming universal credit — a benefit for the unemployed and those on low pay — rose to 2.689 million in July, leaping by 117 percent from March.
Pay fell by the most in more than 10 years in the April-June period, down 1.2 percent, reflecting how workers on the job retention scheme receive 80 percent of their pay. Excluding bonuses, pay fell for the first time since records began in 2001.
However, there was a small increase in job vacancies in the three months to July.
“The increase was driven by small businesses (less than 50 employees), some of which reported taking on staff to meet coronavirus (COVID-19) guidelines,” the ONS said.
UK suffers biggest job losses since 2009 as coronavirus takes toll
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UK suffers biggest job losses since 2009 as coronavirus takes toll
- Mounting job losses are expected as Britain winds down its job retention scheme which protects employees
Citi shuts most UAE branches temporarily as banks evacuate offices in region
DUBAI: Citibank will close most of its UAE branches and financial centers until March 14 as a precaution, its website showed on Thursday, as banks in the region sent staff home in response to a deepening Middle East conflict.
The US financial group’s measures are the latest sign of growing concern among banks after Iran threatened Gulf banking interests linked to the US and Israel.
The Citi branch in the Mall of the Emirates in central Dubai is exempted from the closure, the bank said on its website, adding it plans to reopen all affected branches on March 16.
Citi had moved to a fully remote model for all UAE-based staff and was continuing to serve clients without interruption, a spokesperson for the bank told Reuters.
The US-Israeli war on Iran has so far killed around 2,000 people and thrown global energy markets and transport into chaos as the conflict has spread across the Middle East, with Iranian strikes against Israel, US bases and Gulf states.
Citi told its staff to evacuate offices in the Dubai International Financial Center and Dubai’s Oud Metha district this week and to work from home until further notice.
“The decision to evacuate three of our buildings and to close branches in the UAE was responsive to information we received and is consistent with our commitment to prioritize the safety of our colleagues,” the spokesperson said.
HSBC, another major global bank, has closed all branches in Qatar until further notice, a customer notice said, to ensure the safety of staff and customers.
The war has dented Dubai’s sales pitch to international businesses as the region’s most reliable economic hub, prompting concerns of capital flight, layoffs and firms relocating elsewhere, Reuters reported last week.
Citi said on its website that its phone banking service in the UAE was currently operating at a limited capacity and the processing of cheques would experience delays.
