2.8 mn people seek job-related benefit claims spike in UK; up by 25% in May

The number of people in the UK claiming job-related benefits increased by a monthly 23.3 per cent in May to 2.8 million, according to official data released Tuesday.
The level of the claimant count as measured by Britain's Office for National Statistics is also 125.9 per cent higher than in March, the month in which the country was put into lockdown as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
The claimant count includes both those people who are employed with low income or hours and those who are actually unemployed.
Further indications of the lockdown's impact on the British labor market came with the news that the number of people on payrolls fell by 2.1 per cent, or 612,000 people, between March and May in 2020.

The statistics agency also said the number of weekly hours worked in the three months to April 2020 was 959.9 million, down a record 94.2 million from the previous year. The statistics agency also revealed that in the three months to April, total pay fell in real terms for the first time since January 2018.

Govt's silence dangerous: Priyanka on reports of threat to 1 mn auto jobs

Current Affairs

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday cited a media report to claim that jobs of one million people in the automobile sector were in danger and asserted that the BJP government's silence on job losses was "most dangerous".
Her remarks came after industry body ACMA on Wednesday said around 1 million jobs could be on the line if the prolonged slowdown in the automobile industry continues.
Priyanka Gandhi tagged the media report on Twitter which said auto parts industry is fearing that 1 million jobs could be at stake due to the slowdown.
"Jobs of 10 lakh people working in the auto sector are in danger. People working in this sector will have to search for new job avenues," she said.
"The silence of the BJP government on job losses, weakening trade and policies damaging the economy is most dangerous," Priyanka Gandhi claimed.
The Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India (ACMA), which represents the auto component industry that alone employs around 5 million people, has sought a uniform GST of 18 per cent for the entire automobile sector in order to revive the vertical which has now witnessed 10 months of continuous decline in sales.
ACMA president Ram Venkataraman had said considering the fact that the auto component industry grows on the back of the vehicle industry, a current 15-20 per cent cut in vehicle production has led to a crisis-like situation.

 "If the trend continues, the layoffs are inevitable and an an estimated 1 million people could be laid off," he said....Read More