The British government's efforts to cut a record budget deficit will result in about 600,000 public sector job losses, figures from the independent Office for Budget Responsibility showed today.
The body, created by the new Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition and charged with scrutinising fiscal policy, said general government employment would fall to 4.92 million by the end of the financial year 2015/16 from 5.53 million this year.
The projections are based on implied spending limits for departments under the coalition plan to slash budgets by around 25 per cent to help eliminate government borrowing, which is currently running at around 11 per cent of national output.
Overall employment is seen rising each year to 30.23 million in 2015/16 from 28.89 million this year, the OBR said.
The coalition is banking on a surge in private sector activity to fuel economic growth and create jobs after an 18-month recession.
Earlier today, the Guardian newspaper said it had obtained Treasury estimates which showed 1.3 million jobs would be cut in both the private and public sectors over the next five years as a result of austerity measures.
Reuters