The chancellor would prefer forecasts to be more upbeat, but the economic outlook is unremittingly bleak
Rishi Sunak should be used to grim economic forecasts. In his two years as chancellor, he’s been warned to brace for the worst jobs crisis since the 1980s, a recession without parallel for three centuries, and the biggest shock to the public finances since the second world war.
Not everything came to pass. Extending furlough – rather than ending it early as the chancellor planned – prevented unemployment from hitting levels unseen since the days of his political idol Nigel Lawson.
