Regions outside London lead employment and wage growth, Employment Hero finds

Employment growth in the South and the North of England outpaced London in July, rising 2.5% and 1.8% respectively, compared to just 0.8% in London, according to Employment Hero’s latest data. 

Wage growth in the North also outstripped London, rising by 3.2% against 0.2% in London. 

Employment growth in the South was up 7.6% from April, and 6.3% in the North, while London saw a 3% increase.

Wage growth in the North rose by 2.4% since April. 

Despite these gains, London kept the highest median wage, recorded at £55,119 in July, compared to the Midlands at £40,000 and the North at £40,513.

Kevin Fitzgerald, UK managing director at Employment Hero, said: “Regional growth will be an important measure of Andy Burnham’s success in delivering on his ambition to rebalance the UK economy. 

“While there’s still much work to do to tackle regional inequality in the labour market, our data suggests that his focus on devolution could be shifting sentiment among businesses outside London.

“With strong growth in employment and wages across the nation, the data tells us that there’s a strong community of SMEs willing to hire and power regional economies.”