Economy | Page 14 | National Statistical

Shopping may never be the same again

Josh Martin
June 29, 2020

Categories: Coronavirus, Data, Economy, ONS

The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has changed many elements of our everyday lives, including how we shop. The introduction of movement restrictions meant the closure of most physical shops, so many consumers have been doing their shopping from home instead. In May 2020, over a third of retail spending was online – the highest ever share. In this blog Josh Martin takes a closer look at the online retail sales data to understand this trend.

Understanding the impact on jobs and pay – how the ONS is now measuring the Labour market

Jonathan Athow
June 15, 2020

Categories: Business, Coronavirus, Data, Economy

Tomorrow the ONS will release its latest set of labour market data showing how, and to what extent, the coronavirus pandemic has hit employment and wages. In this post Jonathan Athow compares the strengths and weaknesses of the main data sources we use to produce the figures, including the advantages of new ‘real time’ PAYE data – and the limitations of the claimant count figures.

The road to business recovery

Grant Fitzner
June 4, 2020

Categories: Coronavirus, Data, Economy, ONS

In the immediate aftermath of the introduction of movement restrictions, ONS introduced new surveys to monitor the impacts of Coronavirus (COVID-19) on the UK’s economy and society. Here Grant Fitzner reflects on the findings of the survey of impacts on UK businesses and looks at what it might mean for the UK economy in the near future.

Informing the pandemic response: What’s next from the ONS?

Liz McKeown and Grant Fitzner
June 1, 2020

Categories: Coronavirus, Data, Economy, ONS, Population, Public Policy

In the months ahead ONS will continue to provide new information to inform the UK’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. New analysis of the transmission rate will be included along with further insight on the social and economic impacts. In this post Liz McKeown and Grant Fitzner, who are leading the analytical response, reflect on our progress so far, and describe our plans going forward.

‘No part of the economy remains untouched’: update on how the ONS is measuring the impact of COVID-19

Jonathan Athow
May 29, 2020

Categories: Coronavirus, Data, Economy

Soon after the pandemic began, Jonathan Athow wrote here about challenges the ONS would face in measuring its effect on the UK economy. Since then the first official data has revealed the scale of the immediate impact. As more data comes on stream, here he updates on the continuing work to ensure the ONS is able to paint the most accurate picture possible of these dramatic recent changes.