Downturn 'will hit London hardest'

Leon Walker, Regen.net, 17 November 2008

Around 370,000 jobs could be lost in London in the next two years, equivalent to 7.9 per cent of all jobs in the capital, according to the report.

In contrast, 70,000 jobs are at risk in the North-East over the same period, equivalent to 5.7 per cent of its workforce, the report says.

The North-East has a relatively high proportion of industries that are likely to perform the best during the downturn, and its economy has performed better than any other region in the last two years, the report says.

London, however, has performed below average economically over the last two years and has relatively few of the industries likely to perform best, the report says. But it also says that the capital has relatively few of the industries expected to fare the worst.

Councillor Margaret Eaton, chairman of the LGA, said: "A national, one-size-fits-all approach to dealing with the recession simply isn't going to work. 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."

According to the report, potential net job losses by region over the next two years as follows:

• 370,000 jobs could be lost in London (7.9 per cent of all jobs in London)
• 170,000 in Yorkshire & Humberside (6.8 per cent)
• 230,000 in the North-West (6.7 per cent)
• 180,000 in the West Midlands (6.6 per cent)
• 280,000 in the Sout- East (6.3 per cent)
• 130,000 in the East Midlands (6.0 per cent)
• 170,000 in the East (6.0 per cent)
• 70,000 in the North-East (5.7 per cent)
• 130,000 in the South-West (5.1 per cent)

From recession to recovery: the local dimension is available here