Grim jobs market reports on both sides of the Atlantic highlighted the ongoing human cost of the credit crisis and kept alive concerns over the sustainability of the recovery.

In the US, news that the economy shed another 85,000 jobs in December dashed hopes that a quickening labour market turn around could add momentum to the rebound and make it more robust.

Meanwhile, eurozone data showed unemployment hit 10% in November matching the jobless rate in the US. It was the first time that eurozone unemployment has hit double digits since the introduction of the single currency a decade ago. Both the US and the eurozone economies grew in the second half of 2009. But the jobs market continues to lag behind the recovery in output, with businesses reluctant to hire.