The UK’s unemployment rate has hit 5% for the first time in over four years, according to official figures which suggest over 200,000 people lost their jobs in the three months to November.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) also said 828,000 fewer people were on company payrolls through December compared to the pre-COVID-19 crisis month of February 2020.
The latest figures covered a time of continuing restrictions on the economy to curb the spread of the virus, including a four-week November lockdown for England, though the core statistics were better than many economists had predicted.