Wm Morrison, Britain’s fourth-largest supermarket chain, said yesterday that it would create 5,000 jobs this year as it continued its expansion.

The announcement spread some cheer on a grim day for job losses, particularly in the retail sector. The British Retail Consortium (BRC) will today forecast that the sector will shed up to 40,000 jobs in the early months of 2009. Figures from the BRC will show sales fell by 3.3 per cent in December on a like-for-like basis.

Norman Pickavance, human resources director of Morrisons, said: “We’re providing people with real careers. Even in these challenging economic conditions, Morrisons is committed to hiring and training new people to keep retail as the engine room of the economy.”

The supermarket would not be drawn on the number of full-time-equivalent jobs that were being created, but said that its new training scheme would take on 18,000 employees in its first year. The scheme includes apprenticeships and NVQs.

J Sainsbury said last week that it would create about 4,000 new jobs this year. Iceland said that it would employ an extra 2,500 people with the purchase of 51 Woolworths stores.

Before Christmas, Asda, Britain’s second-largest supermarket, said that it would create 8,000 jobs and open at least ten stores in 2009.

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