We are pleased to announce that the latest Economics Review is now available, here is a summary of the contents:

The South West economy did not suffer as badly as several other regions in the recession but it may also not rebound as quickly with implications for employment. 

The region tends to follow rather than to lead and its upturn is likely to be constrained, especially if there are severe government cutbacks in areas particularly important to the South West, our Chief Economist Nigel Jump writes in the South West RDA’s Economics Review. 

Nevertheless, he says the immediate South West outlook is for a slow recovery to get underway in 2010. 

While regional surveys suggest that output in the South West stabilised and began to rise in the middle of last year, ahead of the UK overall, Nigel says: “Many South West companies still talk of weak demand, spare capacity and cost pressures on margins. As a result, job shedding, albeit at a slower rate than earlier, is more likely than new hiring.” 

Elsewhere in the Review, Nigel sounds the alarm over the “astounding” rise in UK indebtedness over the past decade. 

And in spite of last month’s return to growth in the broader UK economy, he says to “expect a period in the doldrums that does not feel much like a recovery”. 

In this latest review, the special papers include ‘Modelling a low carbon economy’, ‘Innovation & high growth businesses’, ‘Regional short term indicators’ and ‘Recent Developments in the South West labour market’.  

The full Review can be downloaded from the link below.