The unemployment rate has risen to 4.6 per cent, the Office for National Statistics has revealed. This morning’s figures mark the first proper reading of the jobs market since April, when the minimum wage was hiked and the £25 billion raid on employer National Insurance started. It’s not just the joblessness rate rising: the number of payrolled employees fell by 55,000 between March and April, and by 115,000 compared to a year earlier. A flash estimate for May (which will be revised) shows an even starker picture: down 109,000 in a single month and 274,000 year-on-year. In other words, a city the size of Southampton has effectively been wiped off the payroll.
The ONS notes that ‘surveys suggest some firms may be holding back from recruiting new workers or replacing people when they move on.’
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