UK unemployment rises to the highest level since 2018

Unemployment in the UK has risen to 4.1%, the highest level in two years, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The rate grew to this level in the three months to July previously the rate was 3.9%. In July alone, the UK saw the sharpest rise of unemployment from 0.5% to 4.4%.

These figures come as companies let go of their staff as the government's furlough scheme comes to an end on the 31st of October. Since lockdown began, around 695,000 workers in the UK have been removed from payrolls.

As of now, the majority of workers that were furloughed have returned to their initial jobs.

People aged between 16-24 suffered the worst of this rise compared to other age groups in the UK. New data shows that there was a reduction of 156,000 young people employed in the three months to July.

The chief UK economist at Captial Economics research group, Paul Dales, said: "Employment will fall more sharply and unemployment will increase more quickly as the furlough scheme continues to unwind and ceases at the end of October."

These figures signify the start of a sustained rise that economists and academics were expecting.