Green shoots in the South East
The South East of England showed signs of recovery during the final quarter of 2009, according to a new report.
Redundancies fell and the rise in unemployment slowed down, with the labour market beginning to stabilise from the middle of 2009, the South East Economy Review revealed.
The report, published on March 31 by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA), found that the manufacturing sector performed well and the volume of new business increased at its fastest rate for more than two years.
SEEDA executive director Paul Lovejoy said: "Future prospects for growth in the South East are promising, although the recovery remains fragile.
"The South East economy is expected to return to growth in 2010 and business confidence has dramatically improved during the last quarter."
However, he admitted there had been an increase in the number of companies reporting to be "unlikely to weather any further downturn".
The review predicted that economic and employment growth would be faster in the South East than the UK average over the short to medium term. But it said employment was unlikely to start growing again until 2011.
Longer-term unemployment has hit the 18 to 24 age group the hardest during the recession, while men in the region fared worse than women, seeing a faster fall in employment and a marked rise in unemployment.
The South East Economy Review is conducted by SEEDA's Research and Economics department. The next review is expected to be published in July 2010.
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