[UK] Official unemployment figures hide 300,000 jobless

The UK’s former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has warned that at least 300,000 out-of-work people across the UK are being missed by official figures.

The discrepancy was revealed in a study backed by the former prime minister. He said that the full scale of Britain’s jobs crisis is being underestimated because hundreds of thousands of people are being missed by official unemployment figures.

Mr Brown warned that such a discrepancy meant chancellor Rishi Sunak risked putting together a financial rescue package without adequately addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic impact. (Link via original reporting)

This week, as new jobless figures are published, analysis by the Alliance for Full Employment calls for an urgent review of official measures of employment and unemployment. (Link via original reporting)

The current official unemployment rate stands at 4.9 per cent (or 1.7 million people) but analysts said that other data sources - such as the benefit claimant count, business surveys and tax records - suggested unemployment already stands at more than 2 million and is likely to rise to 3.5 million later this year.

Mr Brown warned that the discrepancy between the official figure and true jobless numbers was potentially a “massive error” and called on Boris Johnson to demand a review of the data before the March budget. The Guardian reports on the purported error and its possible consequences.

The UK’s former Prime Minister Gordon Brown has warned that at least 300,000 out-of-work people across the UK are being missed by official figures.

The discrepancy was revealed in a study backed by the former prime minister. He said that the full scale of Britain’s jobs crisis is being underestimated because hundreds of thousands of people are being missed by official unemployment figures.

Mr Brown warned that such a discrepancy meant chancellor Rishi Sunak risked putting together a financial rescue package without adequately addressing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic’s economic impact. (Link via original reporting)

This week, as new jobless figures are published, analysis by the Alliance for Full Employment calls for an urgent review of official measures of employment and unemployment. (Link via original reporting)

The current official unemployment rate stands at 4.9 per cent (or 1.7 million people) but analysts said that other data sources - such as the benefit claimant count, business surveys and tax records - suggested unemployment already stands at more than 2 million and is likely to rise to 3.5 million later this year.

Mr Brown warned that the discrepancy between the official figure and true jobless numbers was potentially a “massive error” and called on Boris Johnson to demand a review of the data before the March budget. The Guardian reports on the purported error and its possible consequences.