Jobs growth slowest in the North West

JOBS growth across the North West is the slowest of all the UK’s regions, according to new analysis by the TUC.
Between 2010 and last year, jobs growth in London was 11.5 per cent – more than twice as fast as the UK as a whole (5.1 per cent) and six times as fast as the North West (1.8 per cent).
If jobs growth in the North West had matched UK levels, there would be an additional 105,000 jobs in the region, the TUC claims.
In 2013 economic activity in the North West accounted for 9.3 per cent of the value of the entire UK economy, down from 9.7 per cent in 2010 and 9.8 per cent in 1997. If economic activity remained at the 2010 share, the region would have generated an extra £5.9 billion.
Last year, the North West accounted for 10.6 per cent of UK jobs, down from 11 per cent in 2010 and 11.1 per cent in 1997. The difference from 2010 equates to around 120,000 jobs.
TUC regional secretary Lynn Collins said: “We need a recovery that works for the whole of the UK, but cuts to infrastructure and services have hit places that are most in need of investment. We now have an unbalanced recovery that is too concentrated in London, too dependent on families getting into debt, and too focused on jobs in low-paid service industries.
“The Chancellor talks of a Northern Powerhouse but the North West and other regions won’t become powerhouses of growth and job creation unless they are powered-up by investment in skills, infrastructure and decent public services – but the Chancellor’s extreme cuts will mean pulling the plug.
“We need a better economic plan that prioritises balanced growth across all of the UK by targeting investment to communities that are most in need of modern infrastructure and more decent jobs.”