Economy Data
UK monthly GDP index, 2017–present
To put the numbers in perspective, annual GDP for the UK in 2019 was approximately £2.17 trillion, or £180 billion per month. This means that monthly GDP in the UK was on the order of ~£45 billion lower for April 2020 than it was for April 2019.
UK weekly Universal Credit claims and JSA claimants, 2020
There may be a delay before the full effect of Covid-19 restrictions on unemployment manifests, particularly because of stimulus packages such as the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. On the other hand, the number of new Universal Credit claims in the UK had a large spike during the height of the first lockdown, peaking at approximately 550k per week in late March. The total number of people claiming Job Seeker's Allowance (JSA) also rose sharply in May.
Government spending on Covid-19 economic stimulus packages, compared to NHS spending, 2018–19
Quantities on the vertical axis are measured in billions of pounds. CJRS stands for Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. SEIS stands for Self-Employed Income Support. The orange line is the total value of loans approved by the government on the Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS), the Coronavirus Large Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CLBILS), the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS), the Future Fund and the deferral of VAT payments scheme.
UK Claimant count, 2008–present
The Claimant count is a statistic that seeks to measure the number of people claiming benefits principally for the reason of being unemployed. Currently this is the number of Jobseeker's Allowance claimants, plus the number of Universal Credit claimants who are counted as searching for work.