Sunderland created net total of 80 jobs in a decade, report finds

Sunderland created a net total of just 80 jobs in more than a decade.

As reported earlier, Mackems are more than £12,000 a year worse off per head on average than they would have been if the economy had carried on doing as well as it was in the first decade of the 21st Century.

That's the finding from a new study by economic thinktank Centre for Cities.

Cities Outlook 2024 looks at the economic performance of major population centre across the country from 2010 to 2022 - and it makes grim reading, with every part of the UK levelled down over the 12 years, leaving the average person £10,200 poorer than if the economy had grown at pre-2010 rates.

A comparison of disposable incomes in the UK’s 63 largest cities and towns over time reveals that every place is out of pocket – both North and South, and from former industrial towns to innovation superstars.

Gross disposable income growth per head was £13,590 lower in London than it would have been if it had grown in line with 1998-2010 trends, while Sunderland experienced a shortfalls of £12,730.

The people of Burnley were especially out of pocket, where the average person was £28,090 worse off, as were people in Cambridge and Milton Keynes, where they would have been £21,000 richer on average if incomes had grown at pre-2010 trends.

Just seven places across the UK saw disposable income growth outperforming pre-2010 trends - but in almost all cases that was down to underperformance before 2010, rather that any great success afterwards.

Across the North East, the average person is £11,500 worse off compared with predictions based on 2010 trends.

Overall, the North East added 44,900 jobs since 2010 but Newcastle alone contributed 31,000 of them.

Bucking the national trend, housing has become more affordable in the North East’s cities. House prices relative to incomes were lower in 2022 than 2010 in Middlesbrough, Newcastle and Sunderland.

Centre for Cities chef executive Andrew Carter, Chief Executive of Centre for Cities, said: "Both the two main political parties have pledged to grow the economy and the general election debate will have growth at its heart. The challenge for the next Government is to go beyond the rhetoric and to do what’s needed to make this rhetoric a reality.

“The UK has had a torrid time since the Great Recession. Everywhere, up and down the country, including places that were doing relatively well before, has been levelled down because of the lack of growth.

"To get growth in every place, the next Government needs to act at a radically different pace and scale, and mark the beginning of a multi-decade policy programme."