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The labor market across the world has changed in dramatic ways since the pandemic.
In the U.K., the one measure that so far has not really budged is the unemployment rate. For the period from January to March, it edged up 0.1 percentage points to 3.9%, according to Office for National Statistics data. The U.K. statistician doesn’t report monthly changes in unemployment.
But it does measure monthly changes in the claimant count, which is more or less the same as jobless claims. Those spiked in April to 2.1 million from 1.2 million.
Hours worked shows what industries have been impacted. Accommodation and food services have seen the greatest toll.
And job openings have dried up.
