Unemployment fall offset by job losses

NO SOONER had the Chancellor given a glowing account of the economy in his Spring statement than Toys R Us announced it was going into administration with the loss of 3,000 jobs.

Since then there have been further announcements of job losses – which may yet balance out the small fall in unemployment during the beginning of the year. These come most notably in the car industry – which seems to be undergoing its own kind of rationalisation, though not talking about it in those terms.

Vauxhall was bought by Peugeot’s parent company (PSA) last year, after a bout of trading losses. As part of PSA’s attempt to cut the losses and return to making a profit, it was announced on 16th April that the number of Vauxhall dealerships is to be cut by a third – which PSA hopes to achieve without compulsory redundancies.

The same day came news that over 1,000 Jaguar Land Rover workers were to be laid off as the company braced itself for lower sales due to Brexit, the sudden unpopularity of diesel and the general fall in consumer confidence.

Other job losses announced in the last week include 450 at the 2 Sisters Food Group in Scotland (which has been dogged by rumours over safety standards); 300 at Carpetright (as the company closes up to 100 stores in an attempt to avoid outright bankruptcy); and 2,000 at Littlewoods/Very, as older warehouses in Greater Manchester are closed and storage is consolidated in a new facility in the Midlands which will reduce staff costs by relying on state of the art automation.

Chancellor Philip “Tigger” Hammond lost no time in rejoicing over the good news on official unemployment figures – but he hasn’t yet added up the recent announcements on job losses and spoken publicly about what that means for the future. He can’t bounce away from the news for much longer.

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