Younger people in the UK are still bearing the brunt of the jobs crisis.

Industries such as hospitality have been hardest hit, according to new figures.

In the year to March, 811,000 payroll jobs were lost in the UK, with under-35s accounting for 80% of these cuts.

The data also showed the unemployment rate dipped to 4.9% in the three months to February – down from 5% previously.

This was despite most of the UK being under strict lockdown rules for at least some of the period.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the jobs market “remains subdued”, with five million people employed but still on furlough.

Head of economics at the British Chambers of Commerce, Suren Thiru, said: ”Although the furlough scheme will limit the peak in job losses, the longer-term structural unemployment caused by Covid-19, particularly among young people, may mean that the road back to pre-pandemic levels lags behind the wider economic recovery.”