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Job-creation rate below pre-recession levels

Everywhere but inner London suffering from depressed job growth and temp work boom

CON-DEM claims that Britain’s economy is recovering were torn apart yet again yesterday after experts revealed that all areas but inner London are creating jobs slower than before the recession.

Job creation has fallen by a third in some regions, according the to the Centre for Economic and Social Inclusion (CESI) report for the TUC.

The number of people starting a new job is down by 30 per cent on pre-crash levels in the West Midlands and the north of England.

But the shortage is covered up in official figures by falling numbers of people leaving work or being made redundant.

“It’s worrying that across huge swathes of the country — and particularly in rural areas — job creation levels remain depressed and that where jobs are being created far more are temporary positions than before the crash,” said TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady.

“We need to see far more high-quality jobs being created, not just in our cities but across the UK, if we’re going to achieve full employment and a return to healthy pay rises.”

Inner London is the only region where jobs are being created at a faster rate than before the crash.

Outer London, south-east and eastern England are down 11 per cent, 16 per cent and 21 per cent on their rates before the bankers’ crisis.

But the proportion of new temporary jobs is higher, at three in every 10 jobs.

Labour Easington MP Grahame Morris said the figures proved Chancellor George Osborne has been “crowing over an illusionary economic recovery that only benefits those at the top.

“The north-east isn’t seeing the benefits of job growth and economic recovery,” he told the Morning Star.

“People here have also suffered massive cuts in the public sector which have affected growth in the private sector. They have also suffered a decline in take-home pay.”

A government spokesman claimed that job vacancies had risen by 116,000 over the past year. “This government’s long-term plan to build a strong economy is working,” he insisted.

But report author Paul Bivand said: “For the economy to benefit all, then rises in jobs have to occur in the rural areas as well as the cities, and Glasgow and Merseyside as well as the south-east.”

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