17 June 2015
New data published today (Wednesday) by the Office for National Statistics reveals that government cuts since 2010 have had an unequal impact on UK regions.
There has been a net loss of almost 400,000 public sector jobs across the UK, with public sector employment hit hardest in the North East of England, and least hard in the South East – although still with net public sector job losses.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “While public services are under pressure from extreme cuts across the UK, it’s clear from these figures that some communities have been harder hit than others.
“What’s more some of the regions that have lost most public sector jobs also have unemployment rates well above the national average, while more prosperous parts of the country have seen fewer overall public sector job reductions.
“The North of England has been hardest hit of all. The promise of a northern powerhouse cannot be delivered off the back of more austerity and more job cuts. Devolving power to the regions will fail if at the same time communities are starved of the public investment they need for modern infrastructure and services.”
NOTES TO EDITORS:
Regional public sector employment excluding effects of major reclassifications 2010-15 (thousands)
Region |
2010 Q2 |
2015 Q1 |
Change |
% change |
Unemployment rate % |
North East |
268 |
232 |
-36 |
-13.4% |
7.4 |
South West |
488 |
435 |
-53 |
-10.9% |
4.2 |
North West |
648 |
587 |
-61 |
-9.4% |
5.7 |
Wales |
325 |
297 |
-28 |
-8.6% |
6.4 |
Yorks & Humber |
500 |
461 |
-39 |
-7.8% |
6.9 |
East Midlands |
359 |
333 |
-26 |
-7.2% |
4.9 |
Scotland |
574 |
533 |
-41 |
-7.1% |
5.9 |
UK |
5667 |
5286 |
-381 |
-6.7% |
5.5 |
West Midlands |
471 |
441 |
-30 |
-6.4% |
6.4 |
East of England |
429 |
408 |
-21 |
-4.9% |
4.4 |
Northern Ireland |
218 |
210 |
-8 |
-3.7% |
6.1 |
London |
722 |
700 |
-22 |
-3.0% |
6.3 |
South East |
640 |
624 |
-16 |
-2.5% |
4.1 |
Source: ONS
- The full ONS release Public Sector Employment, Q1 2015 can be found at http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pse/public-sector-employment/q1-2015/stb-pse-2015q1.html
- All TUC press releases can be found at www.tuc.org.uk
- Follow the TUC on Twitter: @tucnews
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