The first labour market stats since the general election confirm the scale of what’s required to deliver the new government’s ambition for an 80% employment rate. Over the past year, the percentage of working-age adults who are in employment has fallen from 75.5 per cent to 74.4 per cent. The number of people aged 16-64 who are economically inactive has risen by 390,000, and an additional 133,000 people aged 16 or more are unemployed. We are calling on the new government to extend employment support to everyone who wants to work, including the 1.8 million people who are economically inactive but want a job. There also needs to be better coordination of work, health and skills services: currently, only one in ten out of work disabled people get help to find work each year.