Job loss misery for UK

According to recently released figures the UK has been hardest hit compared to other countries in Europe when it comes to the number of job losses during the first three months of the year.

Since the start of the year and up to 31st March of this year it was reported that across the twenty seven member countries a total of 220,000 job losses were announced. A massive 63,330 of these are said to have been in the UK. The figures also showed that in Europe job losses are now outnumbering job creations by nearly three to one.

The figures were released by an EU body based in Dublin, Eurofound, which was set up in 2002. Compared to the 220,000 job losses that were announced in the first three months of the year across Europe officials from Eurofound said that there were only 90,000 job creations.

The report from the company also highlighted which areas were being most affected, and these were said to be the motor industry, retail sector, and the financial industry.

Areas such as catering and discount retailers saw job gains during this same period, showing that there are some firms and industry sectors that have benefited from the economic downturn.

However, officials from Eurofound said that the evidence in its report showed that overall the recession was getting worse. Growth forecasts have continued to be revised downwards, and predictions with regards to when the economy will start recovery keep being pushed back.

The report stated: ‘For the first quarter of 2009, the ERM quarterly has recorded the highest number of announced job losses since it started monitoring restructuring in the EU in 2002. Cases of announced job loss outnumbered those of job creation by almost three to one.’

Tags: creation, job losses, quarterly, Dublin, discount, industry, Macroeconomics, jobs