The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has released a new report which has revealed the number of people in the UK who are now unemployed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic has risen to 649,000.

The data is from March to June, and with further job cuts being announced every day in a wide range of sectors – most significantly, across the retail industry the effects of COVID-19 are being felt in the job market.

As a result, the number of people claiming work-related benefits rose to more than 2.6 million in the same time period. With many businesses now able to take staff off of furlough leave, there could be a large wave of job losses over the next few months, with many more people having to claim benefits.

ONS also revealed that since the start of the coronavirus lockdown, total weekly hours worked in the UK had fallen by a record 175.3 million (16.7%), to just 877.1 million hours.

The report states: “This was the largest annual decrease since estimates began in 1971, with total hours dropping to its lowest level since May to July 1997. Vacancies in the UK in April to June 2020 are at the lowest level since the survey began in April to June 2001, at an estimated 333,000; this is 23% lower than the previous record low in April to June 2009.”