Although the employment news is bad nationally, the figures in the North West are more encouraging.

Unemployment is down in the North West this quarter (from 8.6% to 8.2%).  There’s a small drop for men, and a bigger 0.6% drop for women.

Among young people there’s little change (the figures are mixed – all small changes, some up and others down).

Looking at industry types, the biggest growth area in the North West is “Information & Communication” – with jobs up a massive 38.9% over the last year (28,000 extra jobs).  Technical and scientific jobs are also up: 19,000 new jobs in the last quarter alone.

Mining and agriculture are among the industry areas that have lost jobs.

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