IPSE hails record-breaking employment statistics
IPSE, the Association of Independent Professionals and the Self Employed, has hailed new, extremely positive employment data from the ONS. The ONS’s April – June employment statistics show not only record levels of employment, not reached since 1971, but also a continued growth in the number of self-employed people in the workforce.
There are now 4.81 million self-employed people in the UK, an increase of 23,000 compared to the same period last year. This is complemented by a drop in another flexible part of the workforce: people on zero-hour contracts. This sector of the workforce fell by 20,000 compared to the same period last year.
Jonathan Lima-Matthews, IPSE’s senior policy adviser, commented:
“The UK Labour Market continues to show its strength and has maintained its leading position in Europe. Just as the fears of post-EU referendum economic catastrophe proved to be groundless, so the predictions of a Brexit-fuelled skills exodus seem to have come to nothing.
“And although the significant drop in the number of people employed on zero-hours contracts is clearly positive, it also means the UK economy will now rely more than ever on the flexibility provided by the self-employed. It’s very encouraging, therefore, that today’s figures also show that an additional 23,000 self-employed people entered the workforce between April and June compared to the same period last year.
“Now, as inflation starts to cool, we can reasonably expect to see our workforce growing in size, flexibility and prosperity in the months and years to come.”
