The number of UK workers on payrolls dropped by 793,000 year-on-year last month and has fallen by 828,000 between February and December due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said.
ONS head of economic statistics Sam Beckett said: “The latest monthly tax figures show that there were over 800,000 fewer employees on payroll in December than last February.
“More detailed data, published for the first time, show that parts of London have seen the steepest percentage falls, followed by north-eastern Scotland.
“In the three months to November, on our survey data, the employment rate fell sharply again, while the unemployment rate rose to hit 5% for the first time in over four years.
“The number of people saying they had been made redundant in the previous three months remains at a record high.
“Meanwhile vacancies, which were rising in summer and early autumn, have been falling in the last couple of months.”
