The devastation Covid-19 is causing to people’s livelihoods has been laid bare as unemployment rocketed by the biggest amount since records began.
But as the number out of work hit 2.1 million Rishi Sunak warned there would be “more hardship to come”. Predicting a “severe recession the likes of which we have not yet seen” the Chancellor said there will be no “immediate bounce-back” once lockdown restrictions are eased – despite Boris Johnson ’s optimism.
Some 856,500 people signed up for Universal Credit and Jobseeker’s Allowance in April, driving up overall claims by 69% in a month, the Office for National Statistics said.