revision
05-28-2009, 12:49 AM
Britain's job losses growing in all sectors
Wed, 27 May 2009 21:22:26 GMT
http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=96220§ionid=3510213
Job losses in Britain continue to mount, with more large companies announcing in the coming months that thousands of people will be laid off.
On May 12, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced official unemployment in the UK had increased by 244,000 for the last quarter and had reached 2.2 million.
The quarterly increase in the jobless rate was the biggest since 1981. The total number of jobless is now at the highest rate since 1996, the year before the Labour government came to power.
With the new figures, the official rate now stands at 7.1 percent, up from 6.7 percent on the previous quarter. The numbers claiming unemployment benefits in April rose by 57,100 to 1.51 million.
Those being made redundant have also markedly increased. Redundancies rose by 27,000 in the first quarter of 2009, bringing the total number for the last year to 286,000.
Britain's economy is hemorrhaging workers in a recession predicted by Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government to be the worst since World War II.
On May 12, Tata Steel Ltd., said that earnings at its Corus steelmaking business might be hurt by the global slump after warnings last week that 2,000 UK jobs were under threat.
The UK economy contracted 1.5 percent in the quarter through April from the previous three months, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said in a separate report. Gross domestic product fell 1.9 percent in the first quarter.
On May 22, the retiring Monetary Policy Committee member Professor David Blanchflower, told BBC's Newsnight program that he believed that unemployment was increasing amidst a "financial crisis that we really haven't seen for a century."
According to the ONS, the 6.5 percent drop in manufacturing output between the three months to February and the previous quarter was the steepest since records began in 1968.
Wed, 27 May 2009 21:22:26 GMT
http://www.presstv.com/detail.aspx?id=96220§ionid=3510213
Job losses in Britain continue to mount, with more large companies announcing in the coming months that thousands of people will be laid off.
On May 12, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced official unemployment in the UK had increased by 244,000 for the last quarter and had reached 2.2 million.
The quarterly increase in the jobless rate was the biggest since 1981. The total number of jobless is now at the highest rate since 1996, the year before the Labour government came to power.
With the new figures, the official rate now stands at 7.1 percent, up from 6.7 percent on the previous quarter. The numbers claiming unemployment benefits in April rose by 57,100 to 1.51 million.
Those being made redundant have also markedly increased. Redundancies rose by 27,000 in the first quarter of 2009, bringing the total number for the last year to 286,000.
Britain's economy is hemorrhaging workers in a recession predicted by Prime Minister Gordon Brown's government to be the worst since World War II.
On May 12, Tata Steel Ltd., said that earnings at its Corus steelmaking business might be hurt by the global slump after warnings last week that 2,000 UK jobs were under threat.
The UK economy contracted 1.5 percent in the quarter through April from the previous three months, the National Institute of Economic and Social Research said in a separate report. Gross domestic product fell 1.9 percent in the first quarter.
On May 22, the retiring Monetary Policy Committee member Professor David Blanchflower, told BBC's Newsnight program that he believed that unemployment was increasing amidst a "financial crisis that we really haven't seen for a century."
According to the ONS, the 6.5 percent drop in manufacturing output between the three months to February and the previous quarter was the steepest since records began in 1968.