Northern cities hit hardest by recession

CITIES in the north of England will be the worst affected by recession, a new report has shown.

In the economic prosperity rankings of 64 cities, Manchester ranked 19th, Preston 24th and Bolton 29th. Liverpool was just tipped by Hull as being the most socially deprived city.

The report, from the Centre for Cities charity, ranks the economic performance of the UK’s largest cities and towns, drawing on data from the most recent releases from government sources.

Blackpool tops the ten cities most at risk in the sectors of distribution, hotels and restaurants, followed by Warrington, with Bolton at number ten.

Wigan is fifth place in the ten cities most at risk from the banking, finance and insurance sector. Meanwhile, in the construction sector, Wigan is joint fifth placed with Sheffield, while Bolton and Blackpool are sixth and seventh placed respectively.

The report said: “Cities up and down the country were the big winners during the years of economic expansion. Core cities such as Liverpool, Manchester and Leeds all added in excess of 50,000 jobs over the past decade.

“Now, however, cities are starting to feel the effects of the recession on their local labour markets. Many urban areas across Britain are now experiencing significant short-term job losses and rising unemployment: at least 60% of the increase in Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants between June and September 2008 was concentrated in cities.”