Unemployment hits under-25s in London hardest

Our head of pensions and savings sounds a warning on pensions as youngsters struggle to repair finances.

The latest Labour Market Overview, published by the Office for National Statistics this morning, showed a small monthly decrease in the number of payrolled employees in March, with those under the age of 25 and working in hospitality in London among the worst hit by job losses over the year. There were 2.8% fewer employees in March compared with a year earlier: 813,000 more people without jobs than in March 2020.

The ONS estimated the UK employment rate in the three months to February was little changed on the previous quarter. However job vacancies were well down by 23% in January to March 2021 compared to a year earlier with arts, entertainment, recreation, accommodation and food services hit hardest. However the ONS said that there were early indications of a strong rebound in job adverts in March and April, alongside the easing of lockdown measures.

Becky O’Connor, Head of Pensions and Savings, said: “Beer gardens may have opened up in the last week or so but the latest jobs data is yet to reflect the re-opening of some parts of the economy.

“Many young people will be getting back to work in the sectors that have been hit hardest over the coming weeks and starting to repair the damage done to their finances through months of lost or reduced income.

“As people rebuild their careers and finances, this should also feed into their ability to save and invest for the long term again. Damage to pension pots will not have been front of mind for those who have lost their incomes, with so much else to deal with in the immediate term. But it’s vital that contributions are resumed as soon as possible, for those who were unable to make them due to loss of earnings during lockdowns.”

Notes to editors

• ONS Labour Market Overview