Trade Union Congress: jobs outlook ‘as bleak as 1980s’

The jobs outlook in the UK is bleaker in the current recession than the downturn in the 1990s and bears more similarities to the recession of the 1980s, according to the Trade Union Congress (TUC).

The TUC also claim that unemployment - which recently reached a 12-year high of 2.2m - has risen faster in this recession than that of the 1990s and 1980s and has warned against talks of ‘green shoots’ for the economy.

“The picture for jobs and growth is already bleaker than the last recession, and is looking much more like the deep recession of the 1980s every day. Contrary to some commentators, there are no signs that the outlook for unemployment is starting to improve,” said TUC general secretary Brendan Barber.