Some 7000 jobs were lost in the public sector, taking the number of employees to 6.1 million in the first quarter and ending a long period of growth. Most of the cuts came from local authorities, which axed 4000 jobs.
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Unemployment hits 2.47 million as spending cuts bite
The scale of the jobs crisis facing the Government was underlined yesterday as unemployment rose to 2.47 million in the UK and 212,000 in Scotland, with public-sector workers beginning to feel the pain.
