North East/South East Divide In Labour Market

The employment rate in Great Britain was highest in the South East at 76.4% and lowest in the North East at 69.5%. The unemployment rate was highest in the North East at 9.8% and lowest in the South East at 4.8%. The North East showed the greatest increase in the employment rate at 1.3% then East Midlands at 1.2%. All regions, with the exception of Wales, showed a general increase in employment rates. The only region to show an increase in the unemployment rate was the North East which increased by 0.3% to 9.8%, Yorkshire and Humberside are next with 8.2%.

The inactivity rate was highest in Wales at 24.8% and lowest in the South East and the East of England at 19.7%. The claimant count was highest in the North East at 5.4% and lowest in the South East at 1.8%.

Farming Incomes Up In English Regions

All English regions have seen an increase in their total farm incomes over the past five years according to a statistical release from Defra. Total income from farming in England as a whole increased by 19% and regional increases range from 9% in the South West to 33% in the East Midlands.

Agriculture makes an important contribution to the national economy. It contributed 0.61% to the economy but contributions vary from region to region. At local level the contribution of agriculture to the local economy ranged from 0.17% in the South East to 1.26% in the South West. It contributes least to the local economy in London and the South East.

England can be divided geographically into livestock farming areas in the north and west and arable areas in the south and east. This is reflected in the fact that livestock output was most prominent in the South West and the North West and crops were predominant in the East of England.

In England as a whole, agriculture's contribution to the economy was £7,125m (0.61%) and employed 1.14% of the workforce.

East Of England Lowest Unemployment Rate

The regional labour market statistics from the ONS show that the unemployment rate was highest in the North East (10.2%) and lowest in the East of England (5.8%). The employment rate was highest in the South East (76.2%) and lowest in the North East (67.3%). Inactivity was at its highest in the North West (25.2%) and lowest in the South East (18.9%). The North East had the highest rate of people claiming Jobseeker's Allowance at 6.3% followed by Yorkshire and The Humber (5.2%) and the West Midlands (4.9%). The lowest rate was in the South East at 2.3%. then the South West at 2.5% and the East of England at 3.1%.

At local authority level South Northamptonshire had the highest employment rate at 88.9% then Watford (86.1%) and Brentwood (85.8%). The lowest rates were Middlesbrough at 57% followed by Birmingham (57.5%) and Nottingham (57.8%). The highest unemployment rate were in Birmingham (16.5%), Blaenau Gwent (15.7%) and Middlesbrough (15.4%). The lowest unemployment rates were in South Lakeland (2.7%) and Eden (2.8%).

Slight Fall In Unemployment

The unemployment rate for June to August was 7.9% down 0.2% compared with March to May 2012. There were 2.53m unemployed down 50,000 on March to May. The employment rate for June to August was 71.3% up 0.5% on March to May with 29.59m people in work, up 212,000 on March to May and 510,000 on last year. The number of people in full-time work increased by 88,000 between March/May and June/August and part-time work by 125,000 but between June/August 2007 and June/August 2012 the number of people in full-time employment has fallen by 355,000 and the number of people in part-time employment has increased by 724,000. The number of unemployed people fell by 50,000 between March/May and June/August 2012 but increased by 883,000 between June/August 2007 and June/August 2012. The inactivity rate was down. There were 9.04m (22.5%) economically inactive people in June to August, down 138,000 on March to May and 314,000 on last year. There were 476,000 job vacancies for July to September 2012, up 3,000. There were 1.8 vacancies per 100 employee jobs. The largest increase in jobs between March and June 2012 was in the professional, scientific and technical sector with an increase of 87,000. The largest fall in jobs was recorded in the human health and social work sector with a decrease of 60,000 jobs. There pay rises in the June to August period. Total pay increased by 1.7% and regular pay increased by 2% on last year. Average total pay in August was £473/week and average regular pay was £444/week. The unemployment rate was highest in the North East with 9.9%. It was lowest in the South West with 5.8%. The largest decreases in the unemployment rate were in the North West with 1.1% and the North East with 0.9%. The highest employment rate was in the East of England with 74.6% followed by the South West (74.6%) and the South East (74.4%) and lowest in the North East with 67.9%. The inactivity rate was also highest in the North East with 24.6% and it was lowest in the East of England with 19.9%. The North East also had the highest Claimant Count with 7.7%. The lowest Claimant Count was in the South East with 3%.

An Increase In The Number Of UK Businesses

The estimated number of private sector business in the UK at the start of 2010 increased by 48,000 to 4.5m according to statistics from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. They employed an estimated 22.5m people and had a combined annual turnover of £3,200bn. SMEs accounted for 99.9% of all enterprises, 59.1% of private sector employment and 48.6% of turnover. Two thirds, 64.2%, of private sector businesses were sole proprietorships, 27.6% were companies and 8.2% were partnerships.

The largest sector in terms of numbers of enterprises was construction with 899,000 businesses, professional, scientific and technical came next with 602,000. There were 146,000 enterprises in agriculture, forestry and fishing, 498,000 in wholesale, retail trade, repair and 291,000 in human health and social work activities.

The South East had the most private sector enterprises with 732,000, followed by London with 706,000. The East of England came third with 474,000. The North East had the least number of enterprises with 122,000. Next bottom was the East Midlands with 306,000. Scotland had 288,000, Wales 192,000 and N. Ireland 121,000.

GVA Fall In All Regions 2009

Gross Value Added (GVA) GVA and GVA per head fell in all regions of the UK in 2009 due to the impact of the recession. There was still a wide variation in the extent of the effect. The East of England had the biggest fall. Scotland had the smallest decline. London had the highest share of GVA in the UK with 21.5% and the South East was next with 14.3%. The North East had the lowest share in England with 3.3%. England had 85.8% of GVA and N. Ireland 2.3% (of the 12 NUTS1 Levels).

At the level of the 37 NUTS2 sub-regions, the top five included Inner London and North East Scotland the bottom five included West Wales and the Valleys, Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, Lincolnshire and Tees Valley and Durham. London had the biggest share of GVA per head with £60,686 the lowest was West Wales and the Valleys with £12,860. GVA per head increased in all NUTS2 sub-regions in 2008.

Breaking the statistics down to the 133 NUTS3 local areas level the top area was Inner London West the bottom area the Isle of Anglesey. The City of Edinburgh was second highest and then Inner London East.

House Prices Up 10.1% On Last Year

The House Price Index (HPI) from the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) for April 2010 went up by 10.1% between April 2009 and April 2010 and 0.4% on March. The average house price was £207,516 in April 2010 and the all dwellings index was 174.4.

Annual average house prices in England went up 10.9%, in Scotland 2.2% and in Wales 11.3% but N.Ireland house prices fell by 8.9%. First time buyers paid 12.2% more than a year ago. Average prices for former owner/occupiers were 9.3% higher. New properties were 7.6% more than last year and pre-owned houses were up 10.3%.

House prices rose in all regions of the UK except Yorkshire and Humber where prices fell 0.5%. East Midlands saw the biggest increase with a rise in prices of 2.7%. Over the year to April all regions have seen an increase in house prices. The largest increases were in London where there were price rises of 16.8%.

The average price for a house in England in April was £214,863, in Scotland £162,392, in Wales £151,079 and in N.Ireland £163,201. The English region with the highest average house price was London. The North East was the lowest with £139,595. The regions with an average house price above the national average were the East of England, London, the South East and the South West.