Welsh Economy Shedding Jobs Faster than anywhere in the UK

12.00.00am BST (GMT +0100) Mon 21st Jul 2008

Commenting on the latest Royal Bank of Scotland's Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) report for Wales that was released over the weekend, Jenny Willott, Lib Dem shadow Work and Pensions Secretary and MP for Cardiff Central, said:

"The state of the Welsh economy is looking increasingly desperate.

"We are shedding jobs faster than anywhere else in the UK while new orders and private sector output are at their lowest level since these figures began.

"As businesses try to lower costs by cutting temporary staff, new recruitment programmes are being frozen altogether. What's more, it seems the problems are affecting both the Welsh manufacturing and service sector.

"There can be no room for complacency any longer among Welsh Labour ranks. The era of Tory boom and bust has not been stopped.

"Ministers in both the Assembly and Westminster Governments must act now to ensure that the downturn in the Welsh economy does not spiral out of control and leave behind another generation of unemployed in Wales."