UK economy begins to emerge from Covid but old problems remain

Analysis: End of furlough has not driven up unemployment, but issues such as low productivity still exist

After a bruising couple of weeks, the government was in need of some good news and that was provided by the latest jobless figures. Fears that the end of the furlough scheme would lead to rising unemployment have proved groundless.

It is, of course, early days. There are still only flash estimates of what happened in October once the Treasury's wage subsidies had come to an end but the signs are promising.