Britain's workforce has become more pessimistic about job prospects over the last year, as unemployment in the country has reached record lows.

According to research published this week by the Institute for the Future of Work (IFW) and market research firm Opinium, worker optimism has fallen since 2018, with one-in-five workers more pessimistic about their career prospects than they were last year.

It comes after official data showed last month that Britain's unemployment rate had fallen to 3.9%, the lowest level since the start of 1975.

The IFW's research also found that only a quarter of employees in Britain trust their government to assist them if they were to find themselves unemployed.

Researchers surveyed 3,000 workers, with 60% saying it would be difficult to find a new job if they lost their current one, and a third of respondents believing they would have to take a more junior position if they became unemployed.

According to the study, half of those based in London felt they would have a lot of job options to choose from if they needed to find a new place to work, but outside of London only 38% of workers felt the same.