The UK suffered the largest job losses in Europe during the first quarter of 2009, a report by an EU body has revealed.
‘Announced’ job losses for the first three months of the year totalled 219,290, but the UK suffered the biggest cull with 63,314 positions axed.
Other countries to fare badly included Poland (38,975), Germany (17,461) and France (11,779) the Eurofound European Restructuring Monitor(ERM) report found.
The study recorded a total of 721 cases of restructuring in the EU between January and March 2009, involving the job losses and 90,000 job gains.
Financial services, car production and the retail trade were among the sectors worst hit.
It means job losses now outnumber job creation by almost three to one.
Eurofound said the findings revealed evidence that ‘the global recession is worsening and deepening’.
“Growth forecasts continue to be revised downwards, while predictions regarding the inflection point marking a potential recovery of the global economy are increasingly being moved back to 2010, in some cases later,” it added.
Yet levels of job creation have grown in each of the last two quarters. Of the 89,625 announced job gains, bargain retailers and chain restaurants made up a significant proportion. Hotels and fast food markets also appear to be creating jobs.
