‘Prolonged recession’ could mean 1 in 12 are unemployed

ONE in every 12 workers will be without a job next year as a prolonged recession bites, the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) has forecast.

The economic think-tank is predicting unemployment will average 8% in 2009, up from 6.1% this year.

That will mean an extra 47,000 jobs being lost, pushing the total numbers out of work up to 178,000 — or approximately one in every 12 members of the labour force.