UP to 22,000 manufacturing jobs could be lost across the UK before June, the CBI warned last night.
Thousands of fresh job losses are expected following a sharp fall in orders in recent months, a survey predicted.
The CBI said 22,000 jobs were likely to be axed in the three months to June after 21,000 were cut in the first quarter of the year.
But Alan Hall, regional director of manufacturers' organisation the EEF, said although margins for manufacturers were tight, he did not expect wide-scale job losses, saying that North-East companies were seeing good numbers of orders.
The CBI survey warned that manufacturing employment remained on a long-term downward trend and will be cut across most sectors.
The survey was carried out between March 23 and April 13 - well before the impact of the collapse of MG Rover.
The business group said that firms reported the weakest three-month performance since the summer of 2003.
Orders for consumer goods declined "significantly", while costs and prices increased at the fastest rate since the summer of 1995.
Falling orders and rising costs led to the third successive drop in confidence.
Manufacturers blamed sharp rises in oil prices and the higher costs of other raw materials for their pessimism -and planned to cut investment in buildings and machinery.
Two out of five firms said costs had risen over the past three months and more than a third saw new orders fall.
Exports declined at the fastest rate for 18 months and companies reported the first cut in output for six quarters.
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