Annual manufacturing job losses tip over 100,000 mark
New UK labour market statistics published today (11 February) showed manufacturing jobs at a new low but across the economy unemployment stayed stubbornly below the two million widely predicted by pundits.
Figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed there were 2.8 million employee jobs in the manufacturing industries during the three months to December 2008, down a startling 101,000 on a year earlier.
Across the economy as a whole, the jobless total was 1.97 million, up 146,000 on the three months to September and 369,000 higher than a year ago.
Meanwhile, a TUC analysis published today shows that while UK unemployment is lower than the European average it is now increasing twice as fast as the average across Europe.
The UK has one of the lowest unemployment rates in Europe (6.3%, compared to 7.7% across Europe), but between December 2007 and October 2008, the UK had the third sharpest increase in unemployment (one percentage point), behind Spain (4.4 percentage points) and Ireland (2.7 percentage points).
