UK UNEMPLOYMENT RATE: 25% LOCKDOWN THREATENS TO DESTROY MORE JOBS

If you look at the "official" unemployment rate you will get some bullshit figure that has been statistically massaged out of all recognition for decades for political presentation purposes.

Our method at Trad News, however, is much simpler and more reliable. We simply look at the "Employment Rate," which measures the number of people between 16 and 64 in employment and subtract that from the total. 

The latest easy-to-access figures are quarterly, "seasonally adjusted" figures for the period August to October. According to these, Britain's unemployment rate is around 25% (22% for men, 28% for women).

Naturally these figures include stay-at-home moms and people who are too lazy or rich to work, as well as genuine jobseekers, but they provide a generally reliable picture of how the economy is doing.

With the built-in economic dislocation caused by earlier lockdowns, the UK government expending most of its options to further support business, and the new spate of lockdowns starting in January, things are set to get a lot worse. We will keep an eye that.