Unemployment could jump to four million in worst case scenario - James Rowbury

As the Coronavirus pandemic took its toll on the workplace, British employers planned more than 300,000 redundancies in June and July.

Around 1,784 firms made plans to cut nearly 150,000 jobs in July, almost seven times more than in July 2019. Whereas in June 1,888 companies planned for 156,000 job cuts, a six-fold increase on June 2019.

The Coronavirus lockdown and the unprecedented economic downturn closed restaurants and shops while bringing travel to a standstill and forcing many businesses to cut staff.

Boots, John Lewis, and Marks & Spencer were among the household names announcing redundancy plans in July. The government has stressed that it had already protected 9.6 million jobs through the Job Retention Scheme, however, this is coming to an end in October, raising fears of more job cuts to come later in the year.

Although the official employment statistics do not yet show a large increase in the unemployment rate or redundancies, the Office for Budget Responsibility estimates that in the worst-case scenario, unemployment could jump up to four million next year.

The final clinical trials for a Coronavirus vaccine, developed by AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford, have been paused after a participant had an adverse reaction in the UK.

The vaccine is seen as one of the strongest candidates among dozens being developed globally.

The cause of the illness has yet to be confirmed and an independent investigation is now working to determine whether the reaction was related to the vaccine.

AstraZeneca’s share price has gained over 4% in the week.

Wetherby-based drug developer Avacta has announced an agreement with Abingdon Health for the manufacture of its rapid Coronavirus test, as part of its current expansion of manufacturing capacity.

In partnership with Cytiva, Avacta is developing a fast saliva-based test which aims to provide a result in a few minutes. The test could potentially be used for frequent mass testing in order to quickly identify infected individuals.

Avacta is to begin clinical validation of the test as soon as possible and will transfer its technology to Abingdon Health, with the aim of them providing an additional several millions of tests per month. In the last three months Avacta’s share price has gained 14.08%.

Please note that investments and income arising from them can fall as well as rise in value. Please note that this communication is for information only and does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell the shares of the investments mentioned.

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James Mitchinson