February’s edition of the West Midlands Economic Monitor is now available for you to keep up to date with recent developments in the region. This month shows that regional PMI data has rebounded to growth, whilst economic growth in Q2 2018 – Q2 2019 was mostly due to service sector contraction. House-building is at a record high and the employment rate has risen again.
Here are the headlines for this month:
The headline West Midlands Business Activity Index – a seasonally adjusted index that measures changes in the combined output of the region’s manufacturing and service sectors – rose to 51.6 in January.
In 2019, 775,000 sq ft of office space was completed in Birmingham, a record year and 250,000 sq ft more than the previous record.
Across the region, housing stats show that for the WMCA area, there were 2,770 dwelling starts in 2019 Q3 – up 5.3% (+140) from 2019 Q2.
In the year ending September 2019 there was a total number of 262,188 recorded crimes (excluding fraud) in the WM 7 Met. Area.
The rate of employment for the WMCA area grew by +0.9% October 2018—September 2019.
HS2 Phase 1 (Euston – Curzon) and 2a Curzon – Crewe) has been approved by the government, ending speculation and uncertainty.
Download the latest edition of the monitor (PDF).
The West Midlands Economic Monitor was written by Ben Brittain, Policy and Data Analyst, City-REDI, University of Birmingham.
Disclaimer:
The opinions presented here belong to the author rather than the University of Birmingham.
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