England’s North West and Yorkshire & The Humber clearly led regional job growth in the UK in 2018, with both areas enjoying a 3.5% increase in the amount of jobs year-on-year.
That’s according to a report from Aaron Wallis Sales Recruitment that aggregates data from the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) and data provider EMSI.
The report said the North West added 130,000 jobs in 2018 and Yorkshire & The Humber added 96,000 jobs.
The report said Deloitte pointed to a “Manchester media boom” as a key factor in growth, with the regeneration of the Manchester Docks area seeing considerable investment and the creation of an employment hub at MediaCityUK.
“The relocation of thousands of jobs within the BBC to MediaCityUK, alongside the move of ITV Granada to Manchester has had a ripple effect with organisations both large and small moving to the North West,” said the report.
On Yorkshire & The Humber, the report said: “Leeds, in particular, can be seen as a growing economic hub, where between 2013 and 2018 the number of jobs has increased by 10%.”
It said EMSI industry reports attribute strong Leeds jobs growth in the following sectors between 2015 and 2018:
- Information & communications sectors +19%
- Transportation & storage industries +14%
- Construction activities +14%
“The growth of digital and creative agencies in Leeds, escaping the high rent costs of the capital, are a key factor in the region’s growth,” added the report.
By contrast, the East Midlands saw a significant decrease in employment of 2.2% over 2018, the biggest fall in the UK.
London had jobs growth of 1.2% and the South-East had 1.8% jobs growth.