UK Jobless Claims Rise in November amid Tightening Coronavirus Restrictions

UK’s jobless claims in November were 64,300, up from October’s -64,100, according to the Office for National Statistics press release. The Claimant Count rate was 7.4%, up from the previous month’s 7.2%.

• Prior jobless claims change was revised better from -29,800 to -64,100.
• Prior claimant count rate was revised lower from 7.3% to 7.2%.
• The average total pay among employees for the three months, August to October 2020, increased to 2.7%, while growth in regular pay (excluding bonuses) rose to 2.8%. 
• In the three months to October, the UK unemployment rate was 4.9%, up 1.2% from a year earlier and 0.7% higher than the previous quarter.
• The employment rate for the three months to October was 75.2%, 0.9% lower than a year earlier, and 0.5% below the previous quarter.
• Redundancies hit a record 370,000 in the three months to October 2020, a 217,000 rise during the quarter, despite falling slightly in October.
• Since February 2020, the number of payroll employees has fallen by 819,000.
• There were about 547,000 vacancies between September to November, 251,000 fewer than a year ago but 110,000 more than the previous quarter.

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