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Aviation accounts for a third of job losses since lockdown

Aviation, retail and hospitality are the worst-hit sectors in the UK economy, according to a Sky News analysis of job losses since lockdown in March.

The broadcaster has been tracking the job cuts which have been made public by major businesses March 23.

It says aviation has lost more than 30,000 jobs, from aircraft manufacturing to baggage handlers and airline pilots, as aircraft have been mostly grounded since the Covid-19 crisis started to bite.

British Airways is seeing some of the deepest cuts, with an estimated 6,000 voluntary redundancies and 4,000 compulsory losses.

Sky News said: “British Airways leads the table of the number of UK jobs lost by company, followed by Rolls-Royce (6,000) and Centrica and SSP (at 5,000 each).”

The list does not include losses announced before lockdown, such as the 2,000 losses at Flybe, which went into administration in early March, with coronavirus blamed as the last straw.

The report estimates more than 25,000 retail jobs have gone, along with more than 18,000 in hospitality.

Sky News says the list is not comprehensive as some companies have not given precise details on UK job numbers and there are smaller or privately-held companies where cuts have not been disclosed.

The report concluded: “The gradual reopening offers a glimmer of hope that firms can recover. But few doubt that there will be more despair to come for Britain’s workers.”

Figures out today from the Office for National Statistic show that employment in the UK fell by the largest amount in more than a decade between April and June.

The number of people in work decreased by 220,000 on the quarter, said the Office for National Statistics.

The figures do not include the millions of people who are furloughed, those on zero-hours contracts but not getting shifts, or people on temporary unpaid leave from a job, as they still count as employed.

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