Record Job Losses in Europe

FN: Jobs. There aren't any. No jobs, no "Green Shoots" and nothing but a Bear Market rally in equities. Nuff said.

Europe Payrolls Shrink by Record 1.22 Million Jobs (Update1): "Europe’s economy lost a record 1.22 million jobs in the first quarter as companies cut spending to survive the worst global economic slump in more than six decades.

Employment payrolls in the 16-member euro region fell 0.8 percent from the fourth quarter, when they declined 0.4 percent, the European Union statistics office in Luxembourg said today. The first-quarter drop was the biggest decline since the data series started in 1995. From a year earlier, payrolls contracted 1.2 percent, the first annual decline on record.

The euro-area economy may struggle to gather strength after shrinking at the fastest pace in at least 15 years in the first quarter. Even as indications mount that the worst of the recession may be over, unemployment is near a 10-year high and forecast to rise more as industries from auto makers to airlines reduce output and staffing to weather the economic crisis.

“Companies will continue to cut jobs well into 2010, pushing up unemployment across the region,” said Stefan Bielmeier, an economist at Deutsche Bank AG in Frankfurt. “While the economy may start to stabilize, the worst is still ahead in terms of the labor market.”"