Construction job losses rise year on year

Job losses in the construction sector were 19% ahead in the three months to September 2009 than in the same period a year earlier.

That’s according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics which found 38,000 redundancies in the sector, a rise of 3,000 on the same period in 2008.

Having said that, the figure was at its lowest for a year, having fallen from 42,000 in the three months to June 2009.

The number of people unemployed in the UK overall fell for the first time in 18 months.

2.46 million people were unemployed at the end of November, down 7,000 on the figure three months ago.