Britain's unemployment climbs to 4.1 percent on virus fallout

LONDON: Britain's unemployment rate jumped above four percent in July on economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic, official data showed on Tuesday. The rate grew to 4.1 percent in the three months to the end of July from 3.9 percent the previous quarter, the Office for National Statistics said in a statement.

The number of people claiming jobless benefits stood at 2.7 million in August, up almost 121 percent since March when Britain went into lockdown over the virus, the ONS said. It added that 695,000 workers have been removed from UK payrolls since March.