UK Unemployment Drops To 4.8% In First Quarter As Less Jobless Individuals Look For Employment

The United Kingdom opened 2021 with less jobless people as more employees returned to work with government support, the Office for National Statistics reported.

• The unemployment rate stood at 4.8% in the first quarter, 0.3 percentage points lower than the last quarter of 2020.
• The latest print is 0.8 percentage points higher than the previous year.
• The unemployment rate takes into consideration individuals looking for work who are unable to find such opportunities.
• ONS Director of Economic Statistics Darren Morgan attributed the quarter-on-quarter drop to the reimposition of lockdowns in January, as there were more individuals who were no longer looking for employment.
• The employment rate gained 0.2 percentage points to 75.2% to mark the first increase since December 2019 to February 2020.
• Payrolls increased for the fifth consecutive month in April, but remained 772,000 below pre-pandemic levels.
• The biggest declines in payrolls were recorded in the hospitality sector particularly for those aged 25 years and under, and London residents.