UK’s Coffey: Don't have the full picture on jobs for another month

Commenting on the UK labor market report released in the last hour, the British Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey said, “we don't have the full picture on jobs for another month.”

She added that “our department can cope with this.”

Separately, ONS Deputy National Statistician for Economic Statistics Jonathan Athow said, "While only covering the first weeks of restrictions, our figures show COVID-19 is having a major impact on the labor market. In March employment held up well, as furloughed workers still count as employed, but hours worked fell sharply in late March, especially in sectors such as hospitality and construction.”

"Through April, though, there were signs of falling employment as real-time tax data show the number of employees on companies' payrolls fell noticeably, and vacancies were sharply down too, with hospitality again falling steepest,” he added.

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