Manufacturing jobs to go unless interest rates cut

Over 100,000 manufacturing jobs are at risk unless the Bank
of England cuts interest rates, claims the TUC.

Its The Price of Inaction report, published as the
Monetary Policy Committee prepares to meet this week, argues that manufacturing
is going into recession.

The report predicts that overall economic growth will slow
to around 2 per cent and unemployment may rise to above 1 million by the end of
the year.

The TUC is calling for an interest rate cut of at least a
quarter point in response to the worsening global economic situation and the
manufacturing recession.

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John Monks, TUC general secretary, said, “The Bank cannot
afford to ignore the chorus of calls for a cut in rates. The price of inaction
will be the loss of at least 100,000 manufacturing jobs by the end of the year
as the sector rides through recession.”

By Karen Higginbottom