Further job cuts by banking giant Lloyds Banking Group add to the UK’s unemployment woes.

Lloyds Banking Group has announced yet more job cuts are to be made over the next three years.

The bank has attributed the 2,113 job cuts to the coming-together of the Halifax Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB, which merged at the end of 2008 – creating Lloyds Banking Group. 

However in its statement released today, it did say that 350 job roles will be created to mitigate the losses.

It said that 700 of the job losses will be made through natural attrition, while 170 “relationship manager” roles across the UK will be cut, and five commercial service centres are set to close, with a further 34 under review.

This announcement brings the total number of job cuts for the Group to 7000 since January.  An announcement was made earlier this month that 1,600 jobs would be lost following a restructuring, with the closure of all 164 branches of Cheltenham & Gloucester.

Robert MacGregor, Unite National Officer, said the trade union was astonished at this fresh batch of job cuts: “Morale is now truly low as employees across Lloyds are in a permanent state of anxiety as they see their employer announce hundreds of job losses every week.

“This Labour government cannot afford to turn the other way as bank workers across the country are losing their jobs.”

Mark Fisher, Director of Group Operations, said: “By bringing the businesses together, we will be better placed for the future. Regrettably, however, some of our colleagues will be affected by our plans.

“We understand that this difficult news will be unsettling and we will be working closely with those colleagues affected.”