Although we may technically now be out of the recession, the majority of business sectors are still suffering, and the banks are no exception.

It’s a case of another day, another batch of job losses over at Lloyds Banking Group, as they today announced their intentions to cease operations in Ireland.

Lloyds has around 800 personnel in Ireland, although it’s not all bad news for these employees, as Lloyds confirmed that a large proportion are likely to be employed by the company which takes over.

Although some banks have recently announced healthy profits, it seems that they still aren’t immune to the effects of the ever-changing economy.

Finally there seems to be a glimmer of hope on the horizon for UK businesses, as recent figures have shown that the number of companies who went into liquidation between the months of April and June this year dropped by a fifth compared to last year.

Although around four thousand companies in the UK went into liquidation, this is still a significant improvement on last year’s figures.

However, experts still don’t see any cause for celebration yet, and some have predicted that figures could rise again in 2011 due to spending cuts in the public sector.

Accounting expert Will Wright explained:

“You’ve got to take these figures in context; personal insolvencies have rocketed on the back of the consumer credit boom.”