It’s no secret that the West Midlands has been harder hit by the recession than any other UK region. Indeed economic growth has been slower than that of many other regions for a number of years. This reflects long standing structural problems which mean we have relatively few high growth businesses. As a result, economic recovery in the West Midlands is expected to be difficult and protracted. Although headline regional Gross Value Added (GVA) is expected to begin to rise this year, an upturn in employment is not expected until 2012 – and projections show that it could be well into the next decade before the region reaches the peak levels of employment seen in 2008.
Filed under: Economic inclusion, Economy & Labour Force, Environment, Population, Population & Society, Press release, Regional Data and Intelligence Network, Skills, West Midlands, West Midlands Regional Observatory | Tagged: business, Enterprise, GVA, high-tech, Innovation, regional skills assessment, Research, Skills, technology, West Midlands Regional Observatory | Leave a comment »