THE Government was last night accused of masking the tragedy of manufacturing job losses that have reached an alarming rate.

As Minister for Work Des Browne announced official figures that showed dole queues at their shortest for 28 years, concern was raised at the haemorrhaging of production posts.

Derek Simpson, general secretary of the Amicus union , said: "These figures mask the tragedy of huge manufacturing job losses in the UK, at a rate of 2,500 every week.

"No other sector offers the range of skilled employment and export opportunities that manufacturing does, and we are sacrificing it to the myth that flexible employment practices attract greater investment and job growth prospects."

A total of 759,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost since Labour came to power, according to House of Commons Library figures collected by the Liberal Democrats.

Paul Holmes, the party's spokesman for work, said: "The manufacturing sector is sinking fast while the Government sits idly by.

"The Government has given up the fight to save manufacturing jobs and has left in the lurch the families dependent on those jobs to survive."

The Office for National Statistics said unemployment fell by 33,000 in the three months to October to 1.47 million, a jobless rate of five per cent and 71,000 lower than a year ago.

But the North-East topped the unemployment list, with the number out of work rising 8,000 during that period, taking total unemployment for the region to 79,000.

At 6.9 per cent of those able to work, that is the highest unemployment rate for any region in the country - above the 6.7 per cent recorded in London.

In Yorkshire, unemployment rates rose 1,000 to 122,000, or five per cent.

The number of people receiving unemployment benefit - the claimant count - fell by 7,900 last month to 917,800, the lowest total since September 1975.

Alan Hall, regional director of the Engineering Employers Federation, said manufacturers in the North-East were more confident about prospects for the future but that the Government must do more to help them succeed.

"I do not think the Government realises how serious the problem has been," he said.

"They have not done enough to help successful companies in the region. If the Government were to turn to and engage with the manufacturers in the region, more could be done to arrest job losses and help more companies to succeed."