UK jobless claims jump to highest since 1996 as COVID crisis hits
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LONDON (Reuters) - A measure of the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Britain soared to its highest level since 1996 in April, the first full month of the government's coronavirus lockdown, data published on Tuesday showed.The claimant count rose by 856,500 - the biggest ever month-on-month leap - to 2.097 million, a 69% increase, the Office for National Statistics said.A Reuters poll of economists had produced a median forecast for a leap of 676,500 in the claimant count with..