“This is another set of strong figures, with a quarterly rise in the number of people in work driven by a particularly sharp increase in the number of full-time self-employed. However, today’s figures will be the calm before the storm given the dramatic fall in demand in key sectors of the economy, especially for the self-employed who have been a key source of employment growth in recent years.”
“The government therefore needs to give serious consideration to a package of support that help employers protect jobs during the coronavirus outbreak. We are looking to the government to announce significant funding to help employers avoid making redundancies and closing down their businesses all together.”