No job losses after April: Comm Secy

With key industrial sectors like automobile and steel showing signs of recovery, the government today said it expects arrest in further job losses in a month or two.

"I think by April end whatever job losses would be there that's the end... No more job losses will take place," Commerce Secretary G K Pillai told reporters here.

The situation would stabilise from May onward, he said. However, Pillai said orders for exporters would pick up after the Christmas.

Automobile and steel sectors had posted a healthy growth in February. The domestic steel output went up by 2.8 per cent to 4.74 million tonnes in February.

Domestic passenger car sales went up by 21.8 per cent to 1,15,386 units in February from 94,757 units in the same month last year.

President of the Federation of Indian Export Organisations A Sakthivel last week had also expressed confidence about demand for low priced Indian merchandise reviving in the US stores from May.

Half a million jobs were lost during October-December 2008, according to the Labour Ministry estimates. The export oriented sectors such as gems and jewellery, autos, and textiles were affected the most as exports started declining since October.