Article preview: As an economic indicator, news this week of the number of jobs lost since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic is rather bleak. The latest official figures show a total of 730,000 job losses since the start of the pandemic, with 81,000 net fewer people on payrolls in the last month alone. According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the job losses came despite continued government support via the Coronavirus Jobs Retention Scheme, which is scheduled to end in October.