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%).

Business Start-Ups Up In 2011

The number of business start-ups increased by 11.2% between 2010 and 2011 according to a recent statistical bulletin on business demography from the ONS. The increase of 26,000 brought the total number of business births to 261,000. The number of businesses that ceased trading fell by 20,000 to 230,000 or 7.9% during the same period.

Regionally, the highest number of start-ups was seen in London with a start-up rate of 14.6% or 61,000. The North East with 11.2% and the North West with 11.1% also figured among the regions at the top of the table. The highest rate for businesses ceasing to trade was in the North West with 10.7% or 25,000, then London with 10.4%.

The information and communication category saw the highest rate of increase in start-ups with an increase of 14.8% followed by professional, scientific and technical with 14.3% and business administration and support services with 14.1%. Business administration and support services also saw the biggest numbers cease trading with a rate of 11.9% follwed by finance and insurance at 11.5%. The highest numbers were in professional, scientific and technical with 39,000, construction at 35,000 and business administration and support services with 25,000.

The UK 5-year survival rate for businesses starting in 2006 to 2011 was 45%. The highest 5-year survival rate was seen in N.Ireland with 50.5%, the lowest was in London with 41.8%. The industry group with the highest survival rate was health with 60% and education with 52.8%. Hotels and catering was lowest with 35.7% lasting 5 years.

Business Research And Development

Total research and development expenditure in cash terms in business in 2009 totalled £15.6bn, that is a fall of 2.5% on 2008. The ONS sub-divides business R & D into civil and defence spending. Civil R & D expenditure decreased by 1.4% to £13.7bn and defence expenditure decreased by 10.2% to £1.9bn. In real terms total expenditure decreased by 4.1% to £15.6bn within which civil expenditure decreased by 3% to £13.7bn.

The product group with the highest R & D performance was pharmaceuticals at £4.4bn or 28.4% of all spending. Other significant product groups included aerospace (£1.5bn), computers (£1.5bn), motor vehicles and parts (£1.1bn) and telecommunications (£1.1bn). The region with the highest performance in terms of expenditure was the East of England (24.9%), the South East (23%) and the North West (13.1%) and the lowest in England was the North East (2%) and in the UK N. Ireland (1.9%). In terms of employment, the South East was highest employing the most people in R & D with 35,000, the East of England employed 30,000. The North East, Wales and N. Ireland employed the least at 4,000 each.