Coronavirus: Nearly 25,000 jobs axed in a month - equivalent to size of Newton Abbot or Staines

There are less jobs available now than this time last year, new data has shown.
Nearly 25,000 people have lost their jobs from major UK employers within the last month Credit: PA

Nearly 25,000 people have lost their jobs from major UK employers within the last month - the equivalent to the population of Staines, Newton Abbot or Fleetwood.

Figures analysed by ITV News has shown 24,447 jobs have been lost since July 17 - and a total of 41,500 jobs from major employers since the country went into lockdown in March.

The coronavirus pandemic has had a crippling impact on the UK’s economy, with the country in its worst recession for a lifetime.

Among the sectors particularly hardest hit in the last month include retail and hospitality, which saw sales ground to a virtual halt in March and April at the height of lockdown.

Among some of the big name hospitality firms to announce major job cuts include Yo! Sushi (250), Byron Burger (651), Pizza Express (1,100), Wetherspoon (130) and Azzurri, owners of Ask Italian and Zizzi (1,200), bringing the total to 3,331 jobs.

Marks and Spencer became the latest to announce job losses on Tuesday, with 7,000 people expected to lose their jobs across stores and management within the next three months.

Along with Marks and Spencer, other retail chains have announced significant jobs cuts during the past month as businesses struggle to hold on to employees despite the reopening of shops.

Credit: PA

River Island has cut 350 jobs, WH Smith has announced 1,500 jobs will go, while Dixons Carphone, which owns Currys PC World, has announced 800 jobs will go. A further 1,700 jobs are also at risk at DW Sport as the firm has entered administration.

Even Premier League football clubs have not been exempt to the impact of Covid-19, with FA Cup winners Arsenal announcing 55 jobs would be cut from its workforce.

Others key figures include:

  • British Airways announcing job losses of up to 4,000 staff

  • Pizza Express cutting 1,100 from its workforce

  • Ask Italian and Zizzi owners Azzurrri slashing 1,200 staff from its books

  • Debenhams announced 2,500 jobs are at risk

Last week, the Office for National Statistics said 730,000 people have been taken off payrolls since the beginning of the crisis in March.

The UK has officially entered into recession after the coronavirus crisis caused the economy to contract by a record 20.4% between April and June.

It is the "largest recession on record", the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said, and the first time a recession has been declared in the UK since the financial crash of 2008.

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Chancellor Rishi Sunak admitted "hard times are now here" as the record-breaking contraction in the second quarter (April, May and June) follows a 2.2% fall in the previous three months.

A recession is defined as two successive quarters of decline in gross domestic product (GDP) - the amount of goods and services a country produces.

But monthly figures showed the economy bounced back by 8.7% in June, following upwardly revised growth of 2.4% in May, as lockdown restrictions eased.

The ONS said the economy is still a long way off from recovering the record falls seen in March and April after tumbling into the biggest recession on record.