Recession hits lowest skilled workers and widens north-south divide
The recession has widened England's north-south divide and hit low-skilled workers hardest, an official analysis of the labour market has shown.
New figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed the biggest increase in unemployment between the first quarter of 2005 and the second quarter of this year was in the West Midlands at 6.1 percentage points.
The next biggest rise was in Yorkshire and The Humber, at 5.3 percentage points.
Meanwhile, the lowest increases were in the South East (2.7 percentage points), the East of England (3.0 percentage points) and London (3.2 percentage points).
Looking at the number of people claiming unemployment benefit, the largest increase in claimant proportion was in the low skill category, jumping by 5.3 percentage points.
For those with lower-middle skills, such as secretaries and retail assistants, the claimant proportion rose by 3.3 percentage points.
However, the rate of unemployment among upper-middle skill and high-skill workers rose by 2.3 percentage points and 1.1 percentage points respectively.
Thinktank IPPR North has urged the government to hand more power to northern cities to try and address the regional divide.
It is gathering together business leaders in the region for its Northern Economic Futures Commission, to draw up a ten-year strategy for economic growth.
Chair Geoff Muirhead, the former chief executive of Manchester Airport, said: "With London, Scotland and the other devolved nations increasingly free to develop their own plans with their own powers, it is time for the North to set out its stall for what it needs to remain competitive in the global economy."
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