600,000 public sector jobs to go

Around 600,000 jobs are expected to be lost in the public sector over the next five years, the Office for Budget Responsibility has said.

Leaked Treasury documents had suggested last week’s Budget could increase unemployment by up to 1.3 million.  Labour’s acting leader Harriet Harman said the Budget would push many people into “abject misery” but PM, David Cameron said that unemployment was forecast to fall “every year under this government”.

Mr Osborne announced real terms cuts across all government departments of 25% over four years – except health and foreign aid which are ring-fenced.

He did not say how many public sector jobs were expected to go – but the government has previously insisted that the bulk will come from not filling vacant posts, rather than by making redundancies.

At the same time, the government is predicting that 2.5 million jobs will be created as a result of private sector growth by 2015.

Story Source: BBC News

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