Figures show UK unemployment rate dropped for second month in a row

Overall there were 813,000 fewer workers on payrolls than in March 2020.

Britain’s unemployment rate has fallen for the second month in a row and job vacancies surged as businesses prepared to reopen after lockdown in a sign of hope for the battered jobs market, official figures have shown. Picture: PA

Britain’s unemployment rate has fallen for the second month in a row and job vacancies surged as businesses prepared to reopen after lockdown in a sign of hope for the battered jobs market, official figures have shown.

The British Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the jobless rate fell to 4.9% between December and February, down from 5% in the previous three months.