“Closing down large parts of the economy was always going to lead to a sharp fall in GDP. With only a slight gain into May, the danger is that the pandemic could lead to an economic crisis.
“Mass unemployment is the biggest threat facing the UK – as the thousands of job losses at British Airways and Airbus show. But the government’s announcements last week fell far short of what we need to stem the tide of redundancies.
“The chancellor should have announced targeted support for the hardest-hit sectors like retail, manufacturing and aviation. And struggling businesses need more than a one-off job retention bonus to survive in the long run.
“The more people we have in decent work, the faster we can move out of recession. We must create jobs by investing in new homes, childcare, faster broadband, better transport and green tech. And we need to fill the 200,000 vacancies in the NHS and social care.”