UK employment growth slowed in March as Covid began to hit

The ONS also reported a 12,100 monthly increase in the number of unemployment benefit claims for March, far below the median forecast of 172,500 in a Reuters poll of economists

LONDON: The number of people in jobs in Britain grew more slowly in March than in February, official figures showed in an early sign of the impact of the coronavirus shutdown which is expected to hammer the jobs market.

Growth in the number of people on companies’ payrolls dropped to 0.8% in March from 1.1% in February, according to preliminary tax data that was released earlier than usual.