The government must stop demonising the unemployed

When the furlough scheme ends in October, many more are going to be out of work, writes James Moore

Queues will soon be forming outside Job Centre Plus branches (AP)

Let’s be honest: the latest unemployment figures are a nonsense, at least the ones that are traditionally looked at when they’re rolled out.

The Resolution Foundation actually conducted a detailed analysis showing why, but it was scarcely necessary.

If you consider that there were 9 million or so workers sitting at home and probably feeling worried between March and May, the actual number of people who were unemployed during that quarter comes in at something over 10 million when you add the official number (1.35 million, according to the Office for National Statistics).