The number of people on controversial zero hours contracts has reached a record high of 910,000.
New figures based on an analysis of Office for National Statistics data reveal that 110,000 more people were on contracts that do not guarantee work in 2016 compared with the same period in 2015.
That's an increase of nearly 14%, and 30% higher than 2014.
In 2005, there were just 100,000 people on zero hours contracts (ZHCs).
But although the new figures are a record, they also reveal a sharp slowing in the rate of increase in the last six months of 2016.
The slowing down in the rate of increase doesn't mean anything. Zero hours contracts are a scandal and should be banned. They and the gig economy are simply used to disguise the true number of unemployed and exaggerate the number of ' new business start ups.'
They are not an option for hundreds of thousands of people who have to rely on tax credits and housing benefit to survive. The surplus of labour caused by mass immigration is the main reason employers can use them to pay minimum wages and avoid their responsibilities such as maternity leave to their employees .