Lancashire will suffer major job losses when furlough ends, says Labour

Data has revealed the possible impact of the growing jobs crisis on the North West, with the region having the highest proportion and number of retail and manufacturing workers in the country, and more redundancies expected in these industries.

There are 351,000 people working in retail in the North West, making up more than 10 per cent of the entire workforce .

There are also 318,200 people working in manufacturing in the region .

In both the retail and manufacturing sectors, around three-quarters of employers have made use of the government’s furlough scheme to protect jobs, but with support now being withdrawn from businesses ahead of a hard stop at the end of October, Labour is calling on the government to urgently target support at the hardest-hit sectors.

The UK already has the worst regional inequalities in Europe and without targeted action, this is likely to get even worse.

In the North West there are also:

*10,000 people working for travel agencies or operators

*8,000 people working in the aviation industry

*236,000 people working in hospitality

*9.5 per cent of all travel agency companies are based in the North West

Coun Azhar Ali, Lancashire Labour Group leader, said: “The government is writing off Lancashire as the country enters recession, with the figures suggesting our communities will be disproportionately hit by the jobs crisis.

“The government needs to do right by Lancashire communities and businesses, and see them through the crisis by targeting support.”