A survey of financial firms undertaken by the Confederation of British and PricewaterhouseCoopers has revealed that financial firms feel the crunch still has 6 months to go before any normality returns. The companies quizzed gave the impression that the crunch had worsened over the past three months and was set to last another six.

22% of the firms said they had seen a fall in the number of people they employed although they said the figure was not as bad as predicted. The news from the firms is not a surprise as city job losses have soared over recent months.

Lucy Trueick