Brexit Britain: What has actually happened so far?

Source: BBC

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There was a slight fall in UK unemployment to 1.63 million between May and July which shows there is yet to be a “Brexit effect” on the jobs market, according to economists.

The unemployment rate was 4.9%, down from 5.5% a year ago and little changed from August’s rate, Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows.

Elsewhere, a Markit/REC survey suggested the jobs market suffered a dramatic slowdown in July, with permanent hiring dropping to levels not seen since the 2009 recession.

When it comes to individual firms the picture is mixed.

Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn has told the BBC that its Sunderland plant would lose competitiveness if Brexit eventually means that the UK ends up trading with Europe under WTO rules – because this would effectively add 10% to the price of a UK-produced car, because of EU import tariffs.

The world’s biggest security firm, G4S, warned that the UK’s workforce and economic growth might shrink, and one of Britain’s biggest banks, Lloyds, has accelerated its job cuts, axing a further 3,000 posts – although it said it had made this decision before the referendum.

Elsewhere Japan’s Softbank said it was buying the UK microchip-maker ARM Holdings for £24bn, and would double the number of staff in five years, pharmaceuticals firm GlaxoSmithKline is investing £275m in the UK, while McDonald’s is creating 5,000 new jobs.

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