Almost 500 jobs cut each week

CLOSE to 500 jobs have been lost every week this year and more 70,000 in the past two years.

The Small Firms Association said the recent gains in employment and job creation are being eroded by redundancies, particularly in the manufacturing sector, which has shed 6,300 positions this year alone.

The SFA said the economy was on track to create 36,000 new jobs in 2004, but this employment boost was being damaged by the level of job losses, which totalled 23,000 at the end of this year.