Slump to cost region 170,000 jobs

The LGA wants more economic decisions to be taken at a local level

Workers in the Yorkshire and Humber region are expected to be the worst-hit outside London by job cuts in the looming recession, a report has warned.

The region could lose 170,000 jobs, or 6.8% of its workforce, by December 2010, according to research by the Local Government Association (LGA).

Construction and manufacturing sectors will be hardest hit, the report says.

Some northern cities like Leeds, with more high-skilled jobs, are expected to be relatively unscathed, it adds.

Only London, which is set to suffer 370,000 redundancies, or 7.9% of its workforce, will be hit harder in percentage terms than the Yorkshire and Humber region.

The LGA has warned a national, blanket policy will not help all areas.

The LGA's 'From Recession To Recovery: The Local Dimension' report projects how each area of the country could be affected differently by the economic downturn if no action is taken.

PROJECTED JOB LOSSES The report says 370,000 jobs could be lost in London (7.9% of all jobs in London) by December 2012 170,000 in Yorkshire & Humberside (6.8%) 230,000 in the North West (6.7%) 180,000 in the West Midlands (6.6%) 280,000 in the South East (6.3%) 130,000 in the East Midlands (6.0%) 170,000 in the East (6.0%) 70,000 in the North East (5.7%) 130,000 in the South West (5.1%)

The LGA, which represents councils in England, is calling for as many economic decisions as possible to be taken at a local level to ensure that local solutions can be found to local problems.

Councillor Margaret Eaton, chairman of the LGA, said the recession was going to hit different parts of the country in very different ways.

"It is clear that a national, one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with the recession simply isn't going to work," she said.

"The research shows that the fastest way to get out of recession is for more decisions about the economy to be taken at the local level, which means councils continuing to work with local people and businesses.

"With greater freedoms over transport, infrastructure, planning, economic development and skills, councils would be able to do even more for local people."

The report analysed the structure of each English region's economy, its performance over the past two years and its performance during the last two recessions.

This is what it said of the regions:

• South East
The South East of England has the highest concentration of the industries which are likely to perform best - 38% of its jobs are to be found in these sectors. The South East performed slightly above average in the last recessions but below average in the past two years

• London
London has relatively few of the industries which are likely to perform the best but equally few of those that are likely to perform the worst. London performed poorly in the last two recessions and slightly below average in the last two years

• East Midlands
The East Midlands has a high proportion of industries which are likely to be affected by the recession (22%). The region performed relatively well in the last two recessions and above average in the past two years

• West Midlands
The West Midlands has a high proportion of industries which are likely to be affected by the recession (20%). The region performed averagely in the last two recessions but slightly above average in the past two years

• North East
The North East has a relatively high proportion of industries that are likely to perform the best. The North East fared averagely in the last two recessions and also performed better than any other region in the past two years

• South West
The South West has an average numbers of industries that are likely to perform well and perform badly. The region performed well in the last two recessions but slightly below average in the past two years

• Yorkshire & Humberside
Yorkshire & Humberside has a high proportion of jobs which are likely to be affected by the recession (20%). The region performed averagely in the last two recessions and slightly below average in the past two years

• North West
The North West has an average numbers of industries that are likely to perform well and perform badly during the recession. The region performed relatively badly in the last two recessions and relatively badly in the past two years

• East
The East of England has a relatively high proportion of industries most likely to be affected by the recession. The region performed well in the last two recessions and well in the past two years

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