UK jobless rate highest since 2016 as second COVID-19 lockdown hits

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  Britain’s unemployment rate hit its highest in nearly five years in the three months to November, when coronavirus cases began to rise for a second time and most of the country returned to a partial lockdown. Redundancies touched a record high, taking the unemployment rate to 5.0%, its highest since mid-2016, according to official data, although the increase was slightly weaker than economists’ forecasts. There were some signs of a limited recovery in December, when lockdown measures eased, although a deterioration is likely in early 2021 as a tougher lockdown shut schools and closed most non-essential businesses to the public. Tax data for December showed a 52,000 increase in the number of staff on company payrolls from November, but there were 828,000 fewer workers on payrolls than in February. Economists said the data showed the jobs market was holding up better than many forecasters had feared.Unemployment has been kept down by the government’s Job Retention Scheme, which sup...
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Turkey to get a further 6.5 million Sinovac vaccines on Monday


 Turkish Health Minister Fahrettin Koca said 6.5 million doses of the coronavirus vaccine made by China’s Sinovac will arrive in Turkey on Monday, part of a second planned shipment, allowing the nationwide rollout to continue.

Three million doses of the CoronaVac have already arrived and 10 million more doses were expected in total in Turkey’s second consignment from Sinovac Biotech.

“It will reach us in accordance with the procurement plan and the vaccine programme will continue without interruption,” Koca said on Twitter on Sunday.

Some 600,000 people were vaccinated in just two days when the vaccine rollout began in mid-January, but the pace later slowed as it moved beyond healthcare workers.

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  Britain’s unemployment rate hit its highest in nearly five years in the three months to November, when coronavirus cases began to rise for a second time and most of the country returned to a partial lockdown. Redundancies touched a record high, taking the unemployment rate to 5.0%, its highest since mid-2016, according to official data, although the increase was slightly weaker than economists’ forecasts. There were some signs of a limited recovery in December, when lockdown measures eased, although a deterioration is likely in early 2021 as a tougher lockdown shut schools and closed most non-essential businesses to the public. Tax data for December showed a 52,000 increase in the number of staff on company payrolls from November, but there were 828,000 fewer workers on payrolls than in February. Economists said the data showed the jobs market was holding up better than many forecasters had feared.Unemployment has been kept down by the government’s Job Retention Scheme, which sup...
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