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Employment Change by District
1998-2007

December 2008

Summary

Employment results for 2007 predate the latest recession and continue to show very strong growth. The figure of 622,800 employees in the broader Lancashire area represented an increase of 12% over the period from 1998 to 2007, a higher rate of growth than the GB average of 9.2%.

The disparity of growth rates across the county is the main point of concern. Employment growth in the central Lancashire areas of Chorley and South Ribble was dramatic, whilst five other authorities also achieved impressive growth rates. In contrast, Blackpool and areas in East Lancashire revealed either very modest growth or even falling employment levels.

Introduction

The most recent benchmark count of employment in Lancashire is the 2007 Annual Business Inquiry (ABI), conducted by the (External) Office for National Statistics . This provides information on the number of employee jobs by place of work. On the basis of the ABI count it is estimated that the number of employee jobs in the wider 14 authority Lancashire NUTS-2 region increased by a substantial 66,800 between 1988 and 2007 to stand at an all-time high of over 622,800. This recorded net increase in jobs of 12% was highly respectable and exceeded both the GB (9.2%) and the wider North West Region (8.9%). The Lancashire figure does however conceal wide variations in job growth rates across the local area (Figures 1 and 2, and Table 1).

Bar chart showing the percentage change in employee jobs for Lancashire's local authorities from 1998 to 2007 - see text for details Source ONS - Annual Business Inquiry

Amendment to the Official Figures

Employment practices can make it difficult to obtain an accurate record of employees in employment. Agency staff, temporary contracts, working abroad for British firms, the allocation of construction workers to the correct place of work etc all cause problems. In Lancashire, the official ABI figures allocate a few thousands jobs in a particular sector to Preston district. It is the opinion of the count council's corporate research and intelligence team that these jobs would be better allocated to Fylde district therefore the official figures have been amended in this article.

Arguments could be made for leaving them in Preston, moving them to Fylde or deleting them entirely from the official figures. Each would have some validity, but it has been decided to continue with former practice and move them to Fylde.

In general, the employee jobs given in Table 1 certainly reveal trends over time, but they should be interpreted pragmatically because of undoubted inaccuracies in the employment surveys. Other potential difficulties include the misallocation of establishments and their employees both between districts and industrial headings for which no adjustments have been made, and the allocation of some employees to their "pay points" (e.g. a head office) which is not necessary where they work. The selection of start and end dates in the analysis can also be a significant feature in some instances.

Central Lancashire

For quite some time employment growth has been most robust in parts of Central Lancashire. In total the area enjoyed a net increase of more than 43,700 employee jobs (24.4%) between 1998 and 2007, a pace far above the national average. The area has underpinned the growth rate for the wider sub-region, as over this ten-year period it has been responsible for the creation of two thirds of the net new jobs in Lancashire.

Chorley and South Ribble together provide a very strong employment growth area in the core central part of the county. The rates of increase of 38.4% and 31.0% respectively were well in excess of all other Lancashire authorities. The 20.1% increase in Preston district and the 16.2% growth rate in West Lancashire were also well above the national, regional and county rates of increase.

Map showing the numerical and percentage change in employee jobs for Lancashire's local authorities from 1998 to 2007 - see text for details Source ONS - Annual Business Inquiry

North Lancashire

In North Lancashire, employment growth between 1988 and 2007 of 11.4% was above the national rate of change and almost on a par with the county average. Wyre district recorded a very respectable 19.2% increase, whilst Lancaster district recorded an increase of 9.5% that was ahead of the national rate of change. Blackpool, where there was a rise of just 2.2% in employee jobs, was one of the areas in Lancashire that has struggled to attract new jobs.

The impressive 21.2% increase in Fylde is somewhat misleading (see boxed item), but even if the amendment had not been made to the employee total, the increase would still have been quite respectable.

East Lancashire

The experience of East Lancashire over the 1998-2007 period has been the least favourable of the three sub-regions. The area recorded a net increase of just 1.7% in its total employee jobs headcount. In job creation terms, Ribble Valley was to the fore with a net jobs gain of 19.9% though this district is relatively small in employment terms. Ribble Valley is an affluent rural authority that does not share in the social and economic problems that are often associated with other East Lancashire authorities. It was the only East Lancashire district where employment growth was in excess of the national and county rates of change.

Elsewhere, Pendle recorded a 7.4% rate of increase but the rates for the remaining four East Lancashire authorities were very disappointing. Blackburn with Darwen only recorded a small 4.1% increase whilst in Burnley, Hyndburn and Rossendale there were decreases in employee numbers.

In general terms, East Lancashire has a long history of recording high levels of manufacturing jobs and the long-term trend of employment reductions in this broad sector continues to affect the area.

On a separate point, the M65 extension opened in November 1997, and significantly improved access to by road to East Lancashire. Figure 2 however appears to confirm that the central Lancashire area has perhaps been the part of the county that has benefited the most from this motorway extension. Improvements to transportation networks result in a two-way flow of people and goods that have positive and negative economic and environmental affects that are complex to accurately quantify.

The rather sluggish employment picture in East Lancashire is also reflected in population changes in the area . Also worth a mention is the fact that although Rossendale recorded the worst outturn for employment growth over the 10-year period, the average earnings research monitor dramatically emphasises the fact that the district benefits from its position to the north of Manchester. Many of its residents commute to jobs outside the authority, and easy access to quality jobs in neighbouring authorities is a very important local factor.

This page was compiled by Bryan Moulding .

All enquiries from the media should be sent to Corporate.Communications@lancashire.gov.uk .

Any other questions about the content of this page may be sent to EconInfo@lancashire.gov.uk .

For all enquiries about the county council's services , contact the Customer Service Centre on 0845 0530000 (01772 530000) or at Enquiries@css.lancscc.gov.uk .

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