A Minister Has Wrongly Claimed There Are More People In Work Than Before Covid
A government minister has been criticised for wrongly claiming there are more people in work now than before the Covid pandemic.
Northern Ireland secretary Brandon Lewis repeatedly made the claim during his broadcast round on Tuesday morning.
However, data published by the Office for National Statistics this morning showed there are 504,000 fewer people in work than pre-coronavirus.
Lewis told Sky News: “We’ve got more people in work than we had even before Covid.”
Later in the same interview, he said: “We’ve more people in work than we had before Covid.”
In a BBC interview an hour later, the cabinet minister said: “It is good to see that we have now got employment at an even higher rate than pre-Covid.”
Pointing out his error, BBC presenter Sally Nugent said: “There are fewer people in work than before Covid.”
But Lewis again claimed: “Unemployment is actually below where it was before Covid.
“We’ve got more people in work than we had even before Covid.”
But Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said: “Total employment, while up on the quarter, remains below its pre-pandemic level.
“Since the start of the pandemic, around half a million more people have completely disengaged from the employment market.”
The ONS statistics also showed that while Britain’s unemployment rate had fallen to its lowest level for over 47 years at 3.7%, workers’ wages still lagged behind inflation.
Earnings, when adjusted for inflation, also dropped by 1.2% between January and March, the ONS said.
Lib Dem Treasury spokesperson Christine Jardine said: “The government is failing millions and is now repeating misleading statements.
“The reality is there are now fewer jobs than before the pandemic, while wages have fallen in real terms and inflation is going through the roof.
“No amount of mistruths will hide the disastrous state of the economy under the Conservatives
“We urgently need a VAT cut and a windfall tax to tackle this cost of living emergency.”
Boris Johnson also made the incorrect claim at a session of prime minister’s questions last month, saying there were 500,000 more people in work when there were in fact 500,000 fewer people employed in the UK now than there were pre-Covid.