North East employment growth sees Newcastle on the rise

Newcastle experienced a boost in employment throughout the first three months of this year, whilst Middlesbrough’s economy was one of worst performing in the UK across the same period, according to a new report.

The UK Powerhouse study, produced by Irwin Mitchell and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (Cebr), provides an estimate of GVA growth and job creation within 46 of the UK’s largest cities at least 12 months ahead of the Government’s official figures.

Published this month, the latest report revealed that Newcastle was ranked 12th in the UK in terms of employment growth in the first quarter of 2018, after the city’s workforce increased by 1.5% year-on-year to reach 221,800.

Sunderland led the way in the North East in terms economic growth across the same period with a rate of 2%, meaning the city was among the top 15 best performing cities.

As for Middlesbrough, however, the report showed that its GVA growth rate of 1.3% was in the bottom three for economic performance.

The new report has also predicted that Newcastle will maintain its level of employment growth across the next ten years, with the city’s workforce set to expand by 14% by 2028.

In comparison, employment in Sunderland is only expected to rise by 4.8% between now and then.

Victoria Brackett, CEO at Irwin Mitchell’s Business Legal Services division, said: “This latest report has highlighted how Newcastle and Sunderland have enjoyed a strong performance in terms of employment and GVA growth respectively in recent months.

“However, the news that Middlesbrough is continuing to lag behind their North East rivals and the rest of the UK in terms of economic growth is a major concern which local government will be keen to tackle across the coming months and years.”

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