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Lockdown has cost people their livelihoods

A staggering 813,000 people have lost their jobs since March last year.

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Topics Covid-19 Politics UK

Lockdown has wreaked havoc on the economy. As a result, vast numbers have lost their jobs. A staggering 813,000 fewer people are now on payrolls than in March last year, reports the Daily Mail.

Data from the ONS show that, while the unemployment rate fell slightly from December to February, the employment rate also declined. And from December to March, there was a drop of 56,000 in the number of staff on payrolls.

We all know why this has happened. Forcing businesses to close and ordering people to stay at home has dealt a blow to many industries, with obvious consequences for people’s jobs.

And things may get worse before they get better. Eventually the furlough scheme – which currently supports around five million jobs – must end, potentially resulting in mass redundancies.

All this points to the folly of lockdown and the problem with our glacially slow reopening of the economy. The longer we delay, the more lives will be ruined. We need normality back – now.

Picture by: Getty.

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Topics Covid-19 Politics UK

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