The leader of the Catholic Church has called on the Italian public and private sectors to stem employment losses.

Pope Benedict, who is the 265th Bishop of Rome, has urged businesses and officials to do everything possible to spur job growth in the Italian economy to provide adequate work to sustain families across the country.

Speaking after his weekly Angelus blessing, Pope Benedict suggested that the financial downturn has impacted on Italy's labor market.

According to Reuters, he said: "The economic crisis is causing the loss of many jobs and this calls for a huge sense of responsibility by everyone: entrepreneurs, workers [and] governing officials."

In response to the Pope's comments, Italy's labor minister Maurizio Sacconi claimed that it is up to businesses to respond to the crisis with a sense of "social responsibility".

Italy's unemployment rate reached 8.3 per cent in the final quarter of 2009, according to data released by Eurostat.