A greater proportion of East Midland’s economic output comes from manufacturing than in any other country or region of the UK. During the economic downturn employment rates in the East Midlands have not declined as rapidly as the national average.
Over 6 per cent of the UK’s gross value added (GVA) − a key measure of the economic performance of a region − is created in the East Midlands. The region’s headline GVA was around £78 billion in 2007, with nearly half produced in the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire subregion.
The manufacturing sector accounts for almost a fifth of the East Midland’s GVA, the largest within-region proportion for this sector. The two largest contributing sub-sectors of manufacturing are food & drink and transport equipment. The wholesale, retail & motor trade sector contributes 13.5 per cent of the region’s total GVA, again the largest of any region.
The region has an above-average proportion of residents employed in routine occupations requiring a low level of skills or qualifications, 13 per cent in 2008 compared with 11 per cent in the UK. By contrast, occupations which require the highest qualifications were under-represented, at 39 per cent of all employed residents compared with 43 per cent in the UK.
Productivity, as measured by GVA per filled job, was 92 per cent of the UK rate in 2007, the fourth highest of the English regions: an unchanged position since 2003.
GVA per head, at £17,700, was the fifth highest among the English regions in 2007. Gross disposable household income (GDHI) for East Midlands’ residents was also the fifth highest, at £13,300 per head. It ranged from £10,300 in Nottingham to £14,800 in South Nottinghamshire.
The working-age employment rate in the East Midlands was fourth highest among the English regions at 74.9 per cent in May to July 2009. This was relatively little down on a year earlier, compared with the reduction in the UK rate. Over the same time period the unemployment rate for those aged 16 plus rose from 5.9 to 7.3 per cent, one of the lowest percentage point increases of any region.
Notes: Occupation data are from the Annual Population Survey. Routine occupations refers to SOC 2000 major group 9 Elementary occupations, and occupations requiring higher qualifications refers to major groups 1 to 3 covering Managers and senior officials, Professional occupations, and Associate professional and technical occupations.
Employment and unemployment rates are seasonally adjusted Labour Force Survey headline indicators.
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Regional Trends 41