Bank must cut interest rate to 1% to limit jobs cull

As the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) begins its first two day monthly meeting of 2009 the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) calls for a full 1 percentage point reduction in Bank rate from 2% to 1% to help limit the scale of private sector job cuts in the coming year.

Dr John Philpott, the CIPD’s chief economist, said: “The toll of private sector jobs losses is rising by the day. The labour market needs a further substantial cut in Bank rate allied to efforts to increase the flow of credit to hard pressed businesses. This is as important in the fight against rising unemployment as the government’s welcome initiative to create 100 000 extra jobs.”