Over the past few months, each labour market update from the Office for National Statistics has suggested forecasts predicting mass unemployment were wide of the mark. In the three months leading up to February, unemployment was estimated to hover at 4.9 per cent, 0.9 per cent higher than the previous year but down 0.1 per cent from the previous month.
Where credit is due is debated – and likely shared. The jobs retention scheme continues to shield five million workers, who cannot yet return to their jobs, from unemployed status. That GDP has not taken anywhere near the same tumble this winter as it did last spring speaks to innovative businesses that have managed to adapt to extremely strict lockdown conditions. The vaccine factor has not only sparked confidence in the reopening that is slowly taking place now, but started giving confidence a boost back in December, when it became clear that there was a way out of the crisis.
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