Latest ONS data labour market overview (October 2020)

We analysed the latest ONS data on the labour market for October 2020 from a gendered perspective.

Read our short note on what we found in the data for the labour market for October 2020.

What the data shows:

• Sharp increase in women employees working full-time (fewer self-employed part-time women): This may be driven by increases in public sector jobs, where women are traditionally the majority of employees, plus growth in demand from key sectors like social care and healthcare where women also dominate.
• In contrast, there has been a sharp decrease in self-employed men working full-time: this could be a consequence of the impact of Covid-19 on the self-employed.
• Economic activity for women is higher than a year ago – although more women are unemployed (4.0% women and 4.9% men are unemployed).