Business Economics: The UK Unemployment Rate During the Pandemic

This report examines the UK's unemployment rate during the COVID-19 pandemic, drawing on data from the Office for National Statistics and other sources. It highlights that while initial expectations predicted a much higher unemployment rate, government spending on job development and businesses adapting to layoffs helped mitigate the impact. The report notes fluctuations in employment, unemployment, and inactivity rates among different demographics, particularly males and females, and across various age groups. It concludes that the unemployment rate would have been significantly higher without government intervention and the furlough scheme, which preserved millions of jobs. The report references several sources, including the BBC, Trading Economics, and Reuters, to support its analysis of the factors influencing the UK's unemployment rate during this period. Desklib provides similar assignments and study tools for students.

Economics For Business

 Introduction
 The unemployment rate in the UK during the pandemic
 Reason of unemployment rate
 Conclusion
 References
Table Of Content

Business economics is the application of mathematical modeling
that studies the financial, organizational and business issues that
organizations face, as well as environmental issues. In accounting
and commerce, the concepts of scarcity, situational factors,
transportation, and demand are all discussed. "What occurred to
the unemployment rate in the UK during the epidemic and why?"
is the selected topic for this study. This paper examines the
impact of a virus on the unemployment rate in general.
Introduction

According to the Office for National Statistics, the most recent
unemployment rate was 4.8 percent from January to March, with the
majority of the restrictions remaining in place (ONS). It means one
out of every twenty people seeking for job will be unable to find
one.
The unemployment rate in the UK during the
pandemic

 Numerous economists had expecting unemployment to be much
higher, so this has come as a shock. It's partly due to businesses
being more competent at managing with layoffs, as well as the govt
spending billions in job development.
 The employment rate in the UK was forecasted to be 75.3 percent,
down 1.3 basis points since before the Corona virus outbreak
(December 2019 to February 2020), but up 0.5 percentage points
from the previous quarter.
 The UK unemployment rate was expected to be 4.5 percent, up 0.5
percentage points since before the pandemic but down 0.4
percentage points from the past period.
Continue…

Males and females saw a decline in work, financial immobility, and
unemployed as during corona virus (COVID-19) outbreak. Nonetheless, in
the most latest period, both men and women employment rates rose, while
unemployment rates fell. Male inactivity has declined year after year,
although it is still greater than pre-pandemic values, but female inactivity
has returned to pre-pandemic levels.
Continue…

The UK unemployment rate dropped to 4.3 percent in the third quarter to
September 2021, the lowest level because July 2020 and to well below
growth forecasts of 4.4 percent. Despite this, the rate was 0.3 percentage
points lower than it had been before the outbreak. Unemployment
decreased by 152,000 to 1.45 million people, while production increased
by 247,000 to 32.52 million people, above expectations of 185,000.
Continue…

Followed by years of job growth and reduced unemployment, the rate
of employment has typically fallen (down 1.8 basis points from
December 2019 to February 2020) and the rate of unemployment
has climbed since the commencement of the coronavirus (COVID-
19) pandemic (up 0.9 percentage points).
Labor Force Survey

 1.51 million people were unemployed in June-August 2021, up from 1.37
million in January-March 2020. The number of jobless people aged 17
and up increased by 136,000 over in these two quarters, indicating a 9.9%
increase. The unemployment rate (the proportion of eligible individuals
aged 16 and older who are unemployed) has risen to 4.5 percent.
 Just like with labor, the pandemic has had a bigger influence on various
age groupings' unemployment levels, albeit this time the influence has
been primarily on those aged 25 to 64. Each age group showed a 169,000
increase, whereas those aged 16-24 and 65 and older saw a little decrease.
Reasons of Falling Unemployment Rate

Whether billions had not been spent on work programs and the rapid
roll-out of vaccines, the jobless rate would have been far greater. Up
to 4,000 people were expected to lose their jobs this week, according
to estimates. Several businesses have benefited from the government's
assistance in increasing their workers' compensation underneath the
holiday scheme. Since the outbreak, the furlough plan has preserved
over 11 million jobs, and at the end of March, four million employees
were on leave. The offer is valid till September 30th.
Conclusion

 UK unemployment rate in COVID, 2020. [Online].
Available through; <https://www.bbc.com/news/business-
52660591>
 <
https://tradingeconomics.com/united-kingdom/unemploy
ment-rate>
 <https://www.bbc.com/news/business-52660591>
 <https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/uk-
unemployment-rate-unexpectedly-rate-fell-q1-ons-2021-
05-18/>
 <https://www.business-standard.com/article/
international/coronavirus-impact-uk-unemployment-
rises-to-4-8-highest-since-2016-120111000827_1.html>
References