RIU Gender differences again apparent in North West recovery The UK labour market rebounded strongly in February according to the latest labour market statistics. Employment increased by 143,000 between November and February, despite the poor weather that disrupted much of the country in the quarter. All the employment creation has come from the private sector. The latest Purchasing Managers’ Index supports the view of recent job creation. 2010 saw a significant level of jobs created, 220,000 in the UK and 59,000 in the North West. However, many of the jobs created have been part time work. The latest data show that all the job creation in the latest quarter has been full time in nature. In further good news, unemployment fell nationally by 17,000, although most analysts, including the CIPD, believe that this is a minor blip and unemployment will rise in 2011, in part due to public sector cuts. The North West did not perform as strongly as the UK in the latest quarter, with employment declining by 6,000 and unemployment increasing by 6,000. This is the first time in eight months that the national labour market has outperformed the North West. Only the North West and the North East saw a decrease in employment in the quarter, with particularly strong gains in the dynamic Greater South East, East Midlands and Yorkshire. Unemployment increases were mainly confined to the Northern Regions. Despite this, the region saw the largest fall in unemployment over the last year in the UK. The figures mask interesting patterns in the labour market. Recently, much of the recent employment growth has been driven by older workers, specifically those over 65. The latest information indicates that the drop in employment was driven by individuals over the
retirement age leaving employment. In fact, working age employment actually increased. The recovery from the economic downturn has been characterised by an imbalance in the fortunes of males and females. Females have not enjoyed the recovery in employment compared with their male counterparts. The latest data support this, with male employment increasing by 1,000; female employment declined by 7,000. This partly reflects the sectors that males and females work in. Manufacturing has been driving much of the recent jobs growth and this is well represented by males. Public sector is continuing the long process of shedding jobs and this sector is well represented by females. Hospitality and retail are also shedding jobs and are also well represented by females. At a local level, 26 out of 39 local authorities saw a fall in claimants in March. The largest falls were in South Manchester, with 365 fewer claimants in Manchester, 185 fewer in Trafford and 170 in Stockport. There were also large falls in districts with high tech industries, like Fylde and Cheshire East. Across the North West, there was a 1,600 fall in Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimants, with Greater Manchester accounting for over 1,000 of this fall. Cheshire saw a relatively large fall of over almost 200, potentially signifying a rebound in financial and professional services, which are well represented in these areas. The largest increases, although relatively small, were in the industrial heartland of Pennine Lancashire and Cumbria.
If you would like to know more about the work the RIU could do for you on this topic, please contact Adam Crockett on 01925 400308 or adam.crockett@nwda.co.uk. We are always looking for new ideas to help you improve your decision making, please get in touch if you want to discuss any of your ideas with us.