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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.

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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