The UK suffered the largest number of job losses in Europe in the first three months of this year.
A report by the EU body Eurofound said the number of "announced" job losses in the UK was 63,330 between 2009 and March 31.
Europe's 27 member states saw 220,000 people lose their jobs.
That is the largest figure since Eurofound was set up in 2002 to study employment "restructuring".
The figures mean job losses are now outnumbering job creation in Europe by almost three to one.
The sectors most affected were financial services, car production and retail, according to Eurofound's latest European Restructuring Monitor (ERM) report.
For the third quarter in a row, car production was the sector with the greatest reported job loss (23,584 jobs).
Of the 219,390 "announced job losses" recorded across the EU, the highest number (63,314) was in the UK, followed by Poland (38,975), Germany (17,461) and France (11,779).
Eurofound said the report reveals evidence that "the global recession is worsening and deepening".
But there were also strong job creation moves in the catering business - restaurants and hotels and fast-food outlets, as well as discount store retailing.
The data confirms that unemployment is increasing in all EU countries except Germany, France, Austria and the Netherlands.
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