Finance Industry Recession Hits Jobs

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Byline: Steve Pain

The country's financial services industry is in recession for the first time in ten years, according to research released yesterday by the CBI and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

And the two consecutive quarters of falling output have prompted companies to reduce their cost bases, with job cuts running at the highest rate for six years.

David Waller, Midlands chairman of PwC, said: 'A second quarter of declining profitability has triggered a sharp fall in business confidence, made worse by uncertainties about the future outlook.

'The extent of job cutting suggests that companies believe an upturn is not imminent,' he added.

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