CHESHIRE FULL TIME WORKERS SUFFER WORST DROP IN LIVING STANDARDS IN NORTH WEST AS REAL VALUE OF EARNINGS FALLS

THE GMB says that the figures show that as living standards in the North West region drop by 9.1%, its thinks that:- "the Government’s strategy for an economic recovery is in tatters."

Full time workers resident in Cheshire have suffered the worst drop in living standards in North West region. The real value of their average gross earnings have fallen by 16.6% between April 2007 and November 2011, due to ‘bankers recession’ and stalled recovery.

Trafford’s full time workers suffered the next worst fall in living standards in the region with a drop of 14.5%, followed by Sefton with a drop of 13%, Cumbria with a drop of 12.5%, Blackburn and Salford with a drop of 12.3%. In Liverpool the real value of average earnings for full time workers is down by 12.2%, for Stockport the fall is 11%, for Blackpool the fall is 10.6% and for the City of Manchester it is 10.5%. Only 3 out of the 22 areas in the region have the movement in average earnings for fulltime workers kept pace with the rate of inflation over the same period. These are Bury, St Helens and Knowsley.

These figures are from a new analysis by GMB of official earnings data. The table below shows the change in living standards for all 22 areas in the region, between April 2007 and November 2011. For the North West region as a whole the living standards of full time workers have fallen by 9.1% in this period. The fall for the UK as a whole is 5.9% and for England is 6.2% during the same period.

In the analysis GMB looks at the figure for annual average gross earnings of full time workers in each area from official ASHE data for April 2007 from ONS before the recession kicked in. This figure is compared with the figure for annual average gross earnings for the same area from ASHE for April 2011. The changes shown in annual average earnings between these 2 periods, plus an updating for wage increases to September 2011, are measured against inflation over the same period to calculate the real change in the value of these earnings.

Source:-  Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics. Crown Copyright Reserved.

Paul McCarthy GMB Regional Secretary for the North West said in a press release that:- "These figures show that the Government’s strategy for an economic recovery is in tatters as living standards in the region drop by 9.1%. George Osborne has the economic literacy of a stick of rhubarb. Full time workers in Cheshire, Greater Manchester, Merseyside, Lancashire and Cumbria have seen the value of their earnings drop when they have a job. Things have got a lot worse in the past year as the recovery underway at the time of the election stalled and the region is mired in a new recession.  Two thirds of the economy is consumer driven and Osborne must be the only person who does not get it. Squeezing wages, pay freezes and cutting jobs will not restart the economy. Using the IMF measures his cuts will reduce real private consumption by 4% and GDP by 3.4% over the next few years.  I doubt if the electorate had any notion that a change of government would lead to a loss of 376,000 jobs across the UK and 44,000 in the North West, in the public sector, in the short time since the general election. When the ‘same old Tories’ were returned to power they brought with them the same old philosophy that 'if it’s not hurting it’s not working.'"

What do you are readers think?  Is the Government’s strategy for an economic recovery is in tatters as the GMB is saying or is the UK on track to recover in 2012?  Email your views to our news room via:- news24@southportreporter.com.

Did you know that? Between April 2007 and November 2011 inflation has been 16.1%, of which half (7.65%) has taken place since April 2010.