Commenting on the figures released yesterday on the two countries’ growth rates, John Monks, General Secretary of the ETUC said “Welcome though these figures are, it would be a profound mistake to take them as a light illuminating the end of the recession.

The harsh facts are that even on the most optimistic interpretations, European unemployment will continue to rise well into 2010. Already school and college leavers are experiencing a huge fall in available opportunities and temporary short time working schemes are nearing the end of their life. No-one can afford complacency or self congratulation, when the need is to inject more growth and more jobs into the economy”.