LONDON — Britain's government will double the number of its job coaches as part of a plan to tackle a rise in unemployment triggered by the coronavirus lockdown, the finance ministry said on Saturday. The number of work coaches at British job centres will double to 27,000 at a cost of 800 million pounds ($997 million), the ministry said. Finance minister Rishi Sunak is due to announce on Wednesday his next steps for steering the world's fifth-biggest economy away from its lockdown slump which caused a 20% contraction in output in April. The number of people on British employers' payrolls fell by more than 600,000 in April and May and vacancies plunged by the most on record in the three months to May.

Source: International New York Times July 04, 2020 21:22 UTC