Further decline for North West economy

THE state of the North West economy has worsened with soaring job losses and falling orders, according to a new survey.

The latest data from the Royal Bank of Scotland’s PMI North West report revealed that employment fell at its sharpest level since January 2002. While business activity among the region’s firms was 42% lower than in October – the biggest rate of contraction since the report began in 1997.

There was however a modest decline in input costs after sharp rises earlier in the year. This reflected lower prices and associated products, and the reduction in costs was the first since February 2002.

Philip McKinnon, economist at The Royal Bank of Scotland, said: “PMI data indicated that the economic climate in the North West worsened significantly in November, with the latest findings providing a bleak picture of private sector activity.

“Output, order books and unfinished work all declined at record rates, while job shedding gathered pace in response to what many firms believe will be a prolonged and challenging economic slowdown.”