The UK unemployment rate rose to a four-year high and the employment rate continued to decline in the three months to November as the second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic added pressure on economic activity. The jobless rate rose 0.6 percentage points from the previous quarter to 5 percent in three months to November, labor force survey results from the Office for National Statistics showed Tuesday. This was the highest since early 2016 but below economists' forecast of 5.1 percent.
The extension of the furlough scheme from October 31, 2020 to April 30, 2021 has been effective in preventing another surge in job losses, Thomas Pugh, an economist at Capital Economics, said.
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Business News
May 22, 2026 14:46 ET Minutes of the latest Fed policy session was the highlight of the week along with survey data on the U.S. housing market. In Europe, survey data signaled the trends in the euro area private sector. Further, consumer price inflation data from the U.K. was in focus. In Asia, various economic indicators from China drew attention to the health of the economy.