Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment he has made of the effect of the covid-19 outbreak on trends in unemployment in rural areas.

Over the period of the Covid-19 pandemic the unemployment rate in rural areas increased from 2.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 to a peak of 3.6 per cent in the third quarter of 2020 but has since fallen to 3.0 per cent in the first quarter of 2021. In urban areas the unemployment rate increased from 4.3 per cent in the first quarter of 2020 to a peak of 5.7 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020 but has fallen to 5.2 per cent in the first quarter of 2021.

In April 2020 the eligibility criteria for claiming Universal Credit or Jobseeker’s Allowance were changed following the Covid-19 pandemic. In predominantly rural areas the proportion of the working age population claiming Universal Credit or Jobseeker’s Allowance while seeking work had increased by May 2020 to 5.0 per cent from 2.2 per cent in February 2020. In comparison, the proportion in predominantly urban areas increased to 7.2 per cent from 3.4 per cent over the same period. By April 2021 in predominantly rural areas the proportion of the working age population claiming Universal Credit or Jobseeker’s Allowance while seeking work had decreased to 4.6 per cent while in predominantly urban areas it was 7.3 per cent.

Unemployment rate (as a proportion of people aged 16 and over who are economically active (in or seeking work)), England

Proportion of the working age population (aged 16 to 64 years) claiming Universal Credit or Job Seeker’s Allowance whilst seeking work, England