Reuters reports that a gauge of British labour costs rose at its fastest rate since 2006 in the first three months of this year, reflecting the early days of the government's furlough scheme, the Office for National Statistics said on Tuesday.

Unit labour costs jumped by 6.2% compared with the same period last year, the ONS said.

Output per worker fell by 3.1%, reflecting the impact of the government's job retention scheme, under which furloughed workers still count as employed for statistical purposes.

Output per hour, the main gauge of Britain's productivity was down 0.6% compared with the first three months of 2019.