With unemployment set to soar, the government should call a ‘Cobra for jobs’

Vacancies are evaporating at a record rate. The Institute for Employment Studies says ministers need to call on external advice to manage the next phase. With criticism about the handling of Covid-19 mounting, ministers should listen, says James Moore

Soon there will be queues: Covid-19 will cause a sharp rise in unemployment (Rex)

Which is the bigger surprise: that job vacancies have fallen by 42 per cent since the UK’s lockdown started or that there are still nearly half a million out there?

Some may answer the latter, and that says a lot about where we are.

The Institute for Employment Studies produced the figures, using data from job site Adzuna, as part of an analysis funded by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation.