London to be hit hardest during recession - report

8:58am Monday 17th November 2008

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LONDON will suffer a higher net percentage of job losses in the recession than the rest of England, according to a report.

The findings, published by the Local Goverment Association (LGA), predict that about 370,000 jobs will be lost in the capital by 2010, about 7.9 per cent of all jobs in London.

The report said that London has few of the industries which are likely to perform best in a recession and has performed poorly in the last two economic downturns.

LGA chairwoman Margaret Eaton said: “The recession is going to hit different parts of the country in very different ways and even within individual regions there are marked differences as to how local areas could fare. It is clear that a national, one size fits all approach to dealing with the recession simply isn’t going to work.

"The research shows that the fastest way to get out of recession is for more decisions about the economy to be taken at the local level, which means councils continuing to work with local people and businesses."

The south west region would fare better than anywhere else, with a projected net reduction of 130,000 jobs, slightly more than one in 20.