The number of people opting to go self-employed, such as becoming a contractor or freelancer, has continued to rise over the course of the past three months.
Official figures released from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as part of its Labour Market Statistics review show that an additional 39,000 people joined the flexible workforce the second quarter of this year.
This means that the total number of people working for themselves has now topped 4.2 million.
Another positive to come out of the report is the fact that overall unemployment has fallen by 46,000.
A report published late last year showed that more and more women have decided to go it alone and set up their own businesses or become a contract worker.
Figures produced by Simply Business showed that last year there was a 12 per cent rise in the number of females going solo, meaning they now account for 37 per cent of all start-ups.
