Job loss data points to slowdown

YORKSHIRE’S apparent economic resurgence has been halted with job losses being reported in the region for the first time in five months and new business growth slowing, influential figures show today.

However, the latest Lloyds TSB Yorkshire and Humber Purchasing Managers’ Index also reveals that private sector output grew across the region for the fourth consecutive month in February.

But the latest expansion was modest and the weakest since November.

Sector data used in the Index suggests that a strong increase in business activity in the service sector was partly offset by a stagnant trend in manufacturing production.

Almost one-in-three firms reported higher levels of activity in the latest survey period, linking this to increased new business.

Overall, however, the rate of new order growth was modest and largely in line with the long-run series average, but slower than one month previously.

Although the data has revealed the first reduction in employment in Yorkshire and the Humber’s private economy since last September, job losses were largely confined to manufacturing, as services employment rose further.

Martyn Kendrick, area director for Lloyds TSB Commercial Banking in Yorkshire, said: “Business output growth across Yorkshire and the Humber’s private sector slowed in February, in line with the trend across the UK as a whole.

“The slowdown in the region can largely be traced back to weakness in the manufacturing sector, while services firms continued to see a robust rise in business activity.

“Manufacturers also reduced their workforce numbers in February, and combined with a slower rise in employment across the service sector, Yorkshire and the Humber was one of only two English regions to record overall job losses in February.”