Liverpool sees biggest private sector jobs increase

LIVERPOOL recorded the biggest increase in private sector jobs of any English city from 2010-2012.

According to the Cities Outlook 2014, prepared by think tank Centre for Cities, the number of jobs in private firms increased by 12,800 or 5.8% to 234,200.

This was the second best UK improvement behind 11% in Edinburgh but Liverpool performed poorly on a range of other criteria, from unemployment and population growth to the number of patents filed, and London dominated, accounting for four out of every five private sector jobs created during the two-year period, and pulling in a third of 22-30-year-olds from other parts of the country.

Manchester put on 13,200 jobs to 664,200, a 2% increase, and Warrington 4,000, or 4.5%, to 93,600. Ranked in terms of job numbers, rather than the percentage increase, Manchester was fourth, Liverpool fifth and Warrington tenth. Warrington was also rated as having one of the highest employment rates in the country at 77.5%, behind Reading and Gloucester.

One of the reasons for Liverpool’s percentage growth is that it was starting from a low base. The report shows it had 210 businesses per 10,000 people in 2012, one of the lowest in the country. London had the most with 463.3. The city did not fare well on other indicators – it had one of the lowest rates of patents grants per 100,000 residents at 1.5, one of the lowest rates of employment at 63.2%, and has one of the slowest growing populations.

Blackpool was the worst performing North West location in terms of private sector jobs, losing 5,900 jobs – a 6.4% fall – to 87,400. The rate of decline was only beaten by Doncaster at 6.9% and Northampton at 7.1%. London’s 5.7% increase added an extra 216,700 jobs, underlining the scale of the capital’s economy compared to regional cities.

As the private sector grew, public sector jobs declined – down by 900, or 3.3% in Warrington, and 5,400 or 4.3% in Liverpool. In Manchester there was an increase of 600, or 0.2%.

Warrington was also the only North West location to make the top 10 of business start-up locations in 2012 with 44.9 per 10,000 people. This compared to 44 in Manchester and 30 in Liverpool, which is below the national average of 42. London topped the table with 76.

Liverpool Mayor Joe Anderson said: “One of my mantras is that Liverpool is open for business, so I am really pleased that, in the face of the economic downturn we have been able to grow the number of jobs in the city.

“We are working really hard every single day to attract new firms and investors to the city, as well as growing startup businesses and encouraging entrepreneurs. And these figures do not include our recent success in securing around 1,000 new private sector jobs through bringing firms such as H2 Energy, BAC Mono, BT and Amey.”