Spike in UK unemployment benefit claimants

Figures released this morning by the UK's Office for National Statistics reveal a 125.9 percent increase in unemployment benefit claimants from March to May this year. As this infographic shows, that puts the combined number of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance and Universal Credit (under the "searching for work" conditionality) at 2.8 million.

As noted by the ONS in April, this is not necessarily due to new unemployment: "As part of the UK government's response to the coronavirus, a number of enhancements were introduced to Universal Credit. These may have increased the number of employed people eligible through their earnings falling below income thresholds. Consequently...a certain amount of the change will be because of changes in the number of employed people who are eligible as part of the government response."