New unemployment figures have raised concerns over whether the private sector can absorb the losses incurred in the civil service jobs market.
Data from the Office for National Statistics reveals that unemployment rose by 23,000 in the three months to April and currently stands at 2.47 million.
While the private jobs sector saw an overall rise in employment in the three months to March, the public sector – including those in civil service jobs – incurred a net loss.
John Philpott, chief economic adviser at the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD), said that the disparate fortunes of the two sectors were of concern.
He said: "Signs of recovery in the private sector jobs market are welcome but beg the question whether the private sector will be able to fill the jobs gap once the process of public sector downsizing gets fully underway."
The CIPD has forecast that nearly three quarters of a million public sector jobs could be lost by 2015.
