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UK Facing Jobs Crisis
Thursday 30 April, 2009
Commenting on a report by EU body Eurofound, which showed the UK has suffered the largest "announced" job losses of any EU country, Timothy Kirkhope MEP, Conservative leader in the European Parliament, said:
"These grim unemployment figures will come as little surprise given that Labour closed a job centre every week in 2008. To make matters worse the government will cut help for long term unemployed this summer.
"We need real help to enable the unemployed to upskill, and tax breaks for companies that create jobs. So far, the unemployed have received nothing short of a brush-off from this government.
"Labour has spun that it is helping the unemployed whilst simultaneously cutting employment programmes. Quite clearly Labour isn't working again."
Eurofound is an EU body which monitors employment markets says the number of "announced" job losses in the 27 member states was just under 220,000 between the start of 2009 and March 31 - 63,330 of them in the UK.
The EU-wide figures jobless total is the largest fall in a similar period since the organisation, Eurofound, was set up in 2002 to study employment "restructuring". The figures mean job losses are now outnumbering job creation in Europe by almost three to one.
ENDS
