UK Unemployment Numbers Disguise Fall in Employment Numbers

The ILO measure came in at 3.9% for the three months to May, however the numbers don’t include those workers currently on furlough, and while a good proportion of these could well come back, there is still a good percentage that won’t.

On the plus side the reduction in jobless claims from 7.8% to 7.3% suggests that some workers did return to the work force in June, as shops started to reopen, however the number was tiny when compared to the claim increases seen in April and May, which saw the May numbers revised up to 566.4k.

To get a better idea of where we are in the jobs market the ONS numbers do tell us that there are now around 660k fewer people on the payroll than before the March lockdown, and that number is likely to continue to rise as we head into the end of the year and the furlough runs off.

The pound is little moved on the back of the numbers, while gilt yields have edged slightly higher.

By Michael Hewson (Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets UK)