Warning over Covid-19 jobs shakeout after Christmas 

Economists are trying to estimate the scale of unemployment in the coming weeks. 

Retailers and restauranteurs will shake out large numbers of jobs after Christmas, even if they survive the new shutdown restrictions, a leading economist has warned. 

Professor Edgar Morgenroth at DCU Business School said that Level 5 restrictions have killed "the shimmer of light" for shops and hospitality businesses and that the seasonal trading period was now "fatally" shortened.