WHEN it emerged last year that Teesside was in grave danger of losing its steel industry, the prospect of 2,000 job cuts was viewed as being disastrous to the regional economy.

Mercifully, thanks to Sahaviriya Steel Industries UK (SSI), the bulk of those jobs were saved and the longterm future for Teesside steel-making looks bright.

But imagine if job losses on the scale of a steel plant’s closure were announced every month. The impact would send shock-waves through the economy.

And yet new independent figures show that 2,000 public sector jobs are being lost every month in our region as the depth and speed of the Government’s austerity drive becomes clear.

Across the country, public sector job losses are far higher than the Government had predicted when it set out on its cost-cutting course.

And we are not seeing the private sector mopping up those job losses in the way the Government had envisaged.

Since April, 111,000 public sector posts have disappeared across the country, with only 41,000 created by private companies.

It adds up to a alarming deterioration in public confidence which threatens a return to recession.

Job insecurity has become rife.

When people fear for their livelihoods and are pessimistic about the chances of finding alternative employment, they keep their money in their pockets.

And we increasingly question whether the Government’s strategy will prove to be a false economy.