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<p>Almost 100,000 people in the South West are being forced to take part-time jobs because the recession means they cannot find full-time work.....</p>

Almost 100,000 people in the South West are being forced to take part-time jobs because the recession means they cannot find full-time work.

TUC analysis of official figures released today show the number of men doing involuntary part-time work has rocketed by 77% to 40,778, while for women the figures are 58,593 - a rise of 47%.

Nigel Costley, South West TUC Regional Secretary said 'The unemployment statistics only tell part of the story of this recession. People are being forced to take whatever work they can get and often this means shorter hours than they really want or need.'

The findings come ahead of the latest unemployment figures published tomorrow, which the TUC hopes will show a fall in jobless numbers.

However while overall national unemployment fell last month, so too did the number of people in full-time work. While part-time or temporary jobs may be better than no work at all, people are having to make huge salary sacrifices, reduce their hours and trade down their skills to stay in work. This is bad news for family finances and the UK's overall economic performance as people are not working as much and as productively as they could do, says the TUC.

Creating more skilled, well-paid, full-time jobs is the only way to secure a sustainable recovery that works for everyone, the TUC argues, as it will raise people's incomes and help them to work at their potential again.

Nigel Costley said: 'Virtually all employment growth is coming from part-time and temporary jobs but most of the people taking them want and need permanent, full-time work.

'Any job may be better than no job at all but people are having to make huge salary sacrifices to stay working. This is bad news for family finances and it is holding back our economy.

'Any hope of an economic recovery that benefits everyone rests on the growth of well-paid, skilled, full-time jobs. It is the only way for people to increase their incomes and get back to working to the best of their ability.

'Proper jobs growth, rather than self-defeating austerity and making work even more insecure by attacking basic employment rights, must be the government's top priority.'

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