Official data shows the number of people claiming work-related benefits - which includes the unemployed - increased 126% to 2.8m between March and May. The ONS figures also reveal a record quarter-on-quarter fall of 131,000 in the number of self-employed people in the three months to April.
Separate data published by HMRC shows that a total of 9.1m workers are having their wages paid through the Government's furlough scheme - more than a quarter of the workforce. Economists say the strength of the jobs market will only be truly revealed once the furlough scheme is eased.
A survey by YouGov suggests that 51% of companies intend to make redundancies within three months of the Government’s job retention scheme expiring in the autumn. Some 31% of 500 employers polled said a fifth of their workforce is at risk and just over 21% said that a third of their employees could be made redundant. Only 34% of businesses fel t confident that all their staff will be kept on.
Read more at The Guardian.