UK declares 0.49m job cuts

Britain will cut 490,000 public sector jobs over four years under austerity measures designed to reduce the country's record deficit.
George Osborne, the finance minister, told parliament yesterday that the job losses were "unavoidable when the country has run out of money".
"It is a hard road, but it leads to a better future," he said.
He said he had ordered $130bn in spending cuts by 2015, aiming to reduce Britain's deficit of 11 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) to around two per cent within five years.
The cuts come as figures reveal British public sector spending in September reached $25.5bn - a record high level for the month.
Analysts had initially forecast a slight rise from September 2009's public net borrowing of $24.4bn.
Protests against the cuts are scheduled to take place in London, the capital, and in cities across the country later yesterday.
Ruth Lea, a British economist, told Al Jazeera that yesterday's cuts were essential.
"If we don't cut now the generations to come will have to pay for all this," she said.
Lea added that the prospect of a "double-dip" recession was unlikely, saying: "Even though we talk about these enormous cuts they only mean one per cent year-on-year," she said.
However, some economists have warned that the measures will tip Britain back into recession.
Unions and the opposition have already expressed outrage over the cuts [Reuters]
Mervyn King, the central bank governor, painted a gloomy picture late on Tuesday, saying it would be a long while before Britain could recover from the 10 per cent drop in output seen in the last recession.
The opposition Labour Party, which the current Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government blames for running up Britain's massive debt when it was in power, has agreed there is a need for fiscal discipline.
The National Health Service, schools and overseas aid are will be protected under the spending review.
The National Institute of Economic and Social Research think tank has said it believes the government will only be able to push through half the planned cuts.