UK unemployment hits highest level in three years

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that the unemployment rate rose from 4.1% to 4.5% in the three months to August. The number of jobless people rose by 138,000 to 1.52 million - the highest since 2017. Redundancies increased by a record 114,000 during the quarter to 227,000, the highest level since the financial crisis in 2009. "The latest monthly tax numbers show that the number of employees on the payroll was little changed in September. However, in total there were still nearly 700,000 fewer than in March, before the lockdown," said Jonathan Athow, ONS depu...