Manufacturing shedding 10,000 jobs a month
The UK’s manufacturing industry is shedding jobs at the rate of 10,000 a month – almost two and a half thousand a week – according to new labour market figures published today (18 March).
Official labour market statistics from the Office for National Statistics showed there were 2.78 million jobs left in manufacturing industries in the three months to January 2009, down 120,000 on a year earlier.
As widely predicted, the unemployment count across the wider economy broke through the two million barrier, reaching 2.03 million in the three months to January, up 165,000 on the previous three months to October and up 421,000 on a year ago.
The only sectors to show a rise in employment were part time working, up 50,000 at 7.55 million and the public sector where the count rose by 15,000 to 5.78 million.
