Mubasher: The UK’s jobless rate increased again in the August-to-October period and layoffs reached a record high as companies struggled amid new coronavirus (COVID-19) restrictions, Reuters reported on Tuesday, citing official data.

In the three-month period, unemployment rate registered 4.9%, its highest level since summer 2016, and the number of redundancies reached a record high of 370,000, data showed.

The UK Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak, refused calls to extend the salary subsidy scheme for employees beyond a scheduled 31 October expiry; however, he was forced by the second COVID-19 wave to extend the scheme until the end of March 2021.