Public sector job losses to rise

(SHARECAST) – Unemployment is set to rise in coming months as the full impact of government spending cuts hit the public sector, the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply predicts.

A survey of 750 employers found more intend to cut jobs over the next three months than add them, with the balance between the two attitudes now minus three against a positive figure of 11 in the last three months of 2010.

Private sector companies are still intending to recruit, with both manufacturing and services looking to hire, but two-thirds of public sector employers expect to shed staff.

“The first quarter of 2011 was always going to be a quarter of reckoning for the jobs market, and it seems that last year’s modest recovery will be reversed by a modest relapse this year,” said Gerwyn Davies, a public policy adviser at the CIPD. “Encouragingly, the private sector continues to generate new jobs.”