In a surprisingly upbeat labour market report, the ILO jobs data in the three months to March showed strong employment growth—up until the last week in the month at least –with a sharp rise in the more prescient claimant count.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the number of people employed rose 211,000 in the three months to March to reach a new record high of 33.1mln, or a rate of 76.6pct. This is up from a rise of 172,000 in the three months to February and 184,000 in the three months to January.

The report said claimant count unemployment spiked by 856,500 in April to nearly 2.1mln, taking the rate to 5.8pct from 3.5pct previously. In March, claims rose by just 5,400 people. (LiveSquawk – Continue Reading)

The UK and EU will fail to agree a Brexit trade deal before the end of the current transition period on December 31, a majority of experts believe.

Nearly three quarters (71%) of 100 leading social scientists do not expect a deal to be struck in 2020, a Brexit policy panel survey by the UK In A Changing Europe think-tank showed.

And they were almost equally split on whether the transition period, during which there has been little to no serious change in the UK-EU trade relationship, would be extended to allow more time for negotiations.

More than half (53%) of the academics believed it will be extended to allow more time for negotiations despite Boris Johnson ruling out a longer transition period.

But if there is no extension an overwhelming majority (80%) thought leaving the transition without a trade agreement would be equally or more damaging than a no-deal Brexit, which the prime minister avoided by striking a limited withdrawal agreement with the EU last year. (Huffington Post – Continue Reading)

A study completed by UnitedHealth Group (NYSE: UNH) with the Yale School of Medicine found that older COVID-19 patients with hypertension taking angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors had a lower risk of COVID-19 hospitalization. A pragmatic clinical trial will be a critical next step.

The study, which was recently submitted for peer-reviewed publication, analyzed retrospective data from about 10,000 patients testing positive for SARS-CoV-2 who were enrolled in Medicare Advantage or commercially insured plans, and had a prescription for one or more anti-hypertensive medications. The use of ACE inhibitors was associated with an almost 40% lower risk of COVID-19 hospitalization for Medicare Advantage patients. A younger, commercially insured group did not have the same result. Use of the medication was not found to reduce mortality risk in individuals once hospitalized with COVID-19.

"While not yet actionable, these findings provide an impetus to test whether this common, inexpensive class of drugs can mitigate the impact of the virus," said Dr. Harlan Krumholz, the Harold H. Hines, Jr. professor of medicine at Yale and the director of the Yale New Haven Hospital Center for Outcomes Research. (Business Wire – Continue Reading)