Jobs were lost during lockdown at the fastest pace since the financial crisis a decade ago, official figures show.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) says that employment fell by 220,000 between April and June, the steepest fall since May-July 2009, when 254,000 jobs were lost.
The scale of the downturn is likely to be even greater, and ONS analysis of tax data shows that between March and July the number of people on payrolls fell by almost 750,000.
“We always knew that this was going to be a tough time for people,” Boris Johnson said on a visit to Herefordshire yesterday. “Obviously what we want is a return to economic vitality and health. Some parts of the economy are undoubtedly showing great resilience but
