UK unemployment increased by 50,000 to 1.35million in the three months to March, latest Government figures show. The Office for National Statistics said Britain's unemployment rate fell to 3.9% in the January-March period, covering only one week of the lockdown, from 4.0% in the three months to February.
Early estimates for April 2020 also indicate that the number of paid employees has fallen 1.6%, as firms start to feel a greater impact from the lockdown.
Jonathan Athow, deputy national statistician for economic statistics at the ONS, said: "While only covering the first weeks of restrictions, our figures show Covid-19 is having a major impact on the labour market. "In March employment held up well, as furloughed workers still count as