Jobs have been slashed in the private sector for 12 successive months for the first time since the pandemic – even as the bloated public sector continues to expand. The grim milestone was revealed in a monthly business survey that lays bare Britain's deteriorating economic outlook under Labour. Tory business spokesman Andrew Griffith said: 'Thanks to Labour's choices, productive private sector jobs have been cut for 12 months in a row – even as the public sector continues to balloon.' Excluding the Covid period of 2020-2021, there has not been such a prolonged decline in private sector jobs since the financial crisis of 2008-2009. Tuesday's PMI data also showed growth in private sector activity has slowed more sharply than expected to its weakest in four months.