New data shows that UK employment suffered its biggest hit in more than a decade in the latest quarter.

Employment decreased by 220,000 between April and June, Office for National Statistics figures show.

That’s a fall not seen since the second quarter of 2009 at the height of the financial crisis.

Further fears have been raised about the impact ending furlough in October will have, as record low numbers for average hours worked were recorded, a number that dipped again in the quarter, suggesting furlough is propping up an unemployment figure that did not spike upwards as many had predicted.

At 3.9 per cent, the unemployment rate fell broadly in line with values recorded last year and last quarter.

Premier Miton Investors fund manager Jon Hudson says: “The unemployment rate remains below 4 per cent which is positive but the true picture is distorted by the government’s furlough scheme keeping people technically employed. We won’t see the true extent of the damage until it unwinds in October.”

Deputy national statistician at the ONS Jonathan Athow tells the BBC that groups including the young, old, and manual labourers who are more likely to be temporarily out of work will struggle to find new jobs as easily as others if they are made unemployed.

The ONS’s data release reads: “A large number of people are estimated to be temporarily away from work, including furloughed workers; approximately 7.5 million in June 2020, with over three million of these being away for three months or more.

“There were also around 300,000 people away from work because of the pandemic and receiving no pay in June 2020.”