May 19, 2020

Anna Murray 

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the unemployment figures in the United Kingdom reached 2.097 million, increased by 69.1% than last month.

ONS stated that more than 856,500 people signed up for Universal Credit and Jobseeker’s Allowance, leading to a 69% increase in total claims over a month. This is the first time the unemployment numbers are over 2 million after 1996, marking the fastest rate of increase since records started in the 1970s.

The U.K. government has adopted some measures in response to the impact of Covid-19, such as enhancing the "Universal Credit", furlough scheme or "Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme" (CJRS) to provide supports for businesses to preserve their staff.

The improvement of "Universal Credit" means that more and more people are qualified to get the unemployment-related benefit support, even though they are still employed. As for the CJRS, the government supports employers to cover 80% of an employee’s salary, up to a maximum of £2,500 ($3,059) per month. The scheme has been lengthened to the end of October.