Midlands Engine Observatory publishes latest Quarterly Economic Commentary

The Midlands Engine Observatory has published the latest edition of its Quarterly Economic Commentary (QEC).

The QEC analyses significant national statistical releases and what they tell us about the performance of the Midlands economy. Owing to the time-lag in the release of statistics, much of the analysis in the latest QEC relates to our economy before the impact of Covid-19. Nevertheless, the QEC provides a useful baseline of how our economy was performing prior to the economic shock.

The QEC tells a truly positive story about how the Midlands economy was beginning to close the gap across a number of economic performance measures:

• growth rate in school readiness in the Midlands was greater than the UK average;
• apprenticeship starts in the Midlands grew faster than the UK average;
• proportion of people with NVQ level 4 qualifications grew faster than the UK average and, conversely, the proportion of people with no qualifications decreased faster than the UK average;
• economic activity rates in the Midlands grew faster than the rest of the UK;
• productivity (as measured by GVA per hour worked) grew faster in the Midlands than the rest of the UK;

The firm ambition of the Midlands Engine, as we emerge from the depths of the Covid-19 pandemic, will be to help re-establish this trajectory and continue to close the gap with the rest of the UK.

You can read the full QEC here: Download the Quarterly Economic Commentary – May 2020.

For further Observatory research and analysis, including our fortnightly Covid-19 Economic Impact Monitor, please visit: www.midlandsengine.org/observatory