Brexit could cost £100bn and nearly 1m jobs, CBI warns

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2016/mar/21/brexit-could-cost-100bn-and-nearly-1m-jobs-cbi-warns

Report conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers for the CBI says economy faces irreparable damage if UK leaves European Union

Brexit could cost £100bn and nearly 1m jobs, CBI warns
Julia Kollewe
Sunday 20 March 2016 20.01 EDT

Leaving the European Union would cause a serious shock to the UK economy that could lead to 950,000 job losses and leave the average household £3,700 worse off by 2020, a report commissioned by the CBI business lobby group has warned.

In a stark warning, an analysis conducted by accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers for the CBI said that Brexit could cost the UK economy £100bn – the equivalent of 5% of GDP – by 2020 and would cause long-lasting economic damage from which it would never recover.

Household incomes could be between £2,100 and £3,700 lower if Britain voted to leave the EU, while the UK’s unemployment rate, currently one of the lowest in the EU at 5.1%, would be between 2 and 3 percentage points higher, with 950,000 jobs potentially lost.

Carolyn Fairbairn, the CBI’s director general, said: “This analysis shows very clearly why leaving the European Union would be a real blow for living standards, jobs and growth. The savings from reduced EU budget contributions and regulation are greatly outweighed by the negative impact on trade and investment. Even in the best case this would cause a serious shock to the UK economy.”