PBE CEO Matt Whittaker gives his reaction to this morning's ONS Labour Market statistics.

"The easing of lockdown restrictions in July has created some modest improvements in some of today’s headline figures. But there is still much to be concerned about on the horizon, with the number of employees on payroll down and redundancies up sharply, all before the government’s furlough scheme unwinds.

As the coronavirus health crisis increasingly gives way to an economic and social crisis, we can expect rising numbers of people to turn to charitable organisations for help. Charities will once again step up to do what they can to support those in need. But these organisations are themselves under huge pressure, and our research estimates that 60,000 of the jobs lost this year will come from the charity sector.

It’s vital that more resources are funnelled into the social sector and that years of public policy neglect are reversed, so that charities can fulfil their central role in the country’s recovery from Covid-19."

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Contact PBE's press office here.