Various contracting professional groups have been responding positively to the latest stats from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) that not only reveal that unemployment has reached a forty-year low, but also that contracting is a working option pursued by more and more people.

The number of people categorised as self-employed – a count that includes contracting and freelancing professionals – remained steady at approximately 4.8 million people, thanks to an increase of 85,000 part-time self-employed workers.

Unemployment reached a total level of 1.42 million, the lowest measure seen since May 1975, while the number of employed people grew by 427,000 to hit 32.2 million.

Julia Kermode, CEO of the Freelancer and Contractor Services Association (FCSA) said that the rise in self-employment was likely due to many people starting to subsidise their primary job with freelance work, while others had made a completely self-employed switch to gain flexibility in their working life.

Work patterns, she observed, are shifting and the expansion of non-traditional employment is “going to continue.”

She added: “Our analysis of ONS labour market data shows that 70% of the growth in self-employment since 2008 has been at the highly skilled end of the spectrum in the following ONS categories: managers, directors and senior officials; professional occupations; and associate professional and technical positions.”