Responding to the latest ONS labour market data, Nick Bowes, Chief Executive of Centre for London said:

“Although unemployment is down in London, the capital’s labour market is experiencing a deeper crisis than the rest of the UK. It still has the highest unemployment rate of any region and is nearly 40 per cent higher than the national average.

“Unemployment among women, the young and those in hospitality also remains high and the delay to unlocking the leisure and hospitality industries, while a necessary step to keep us all safe, isn’t without ongoing economic consequence. The longer restrictions go on the less simple it will be for London simply to snap back to how it was before.

“The ‘infrastructure of fun’ – restaurants, bars, clubs and galleries etc – are vital to London’s economic recovery and to what makes the city so special. The government must continue to provide the full financial support they need until restrictions are lifted.”

ENDS