A new study has revealed that the number of people employed in the manufacturing industries in the UK has declined in the seven years since 2008 from 3.36m to 2.97m people.
The study shows that the UK balance of payments deficit has grown from 3.6% of GDP in 2008 to over 5% in 2015. It also demonstrates that manufacturing output fell by 12% between 2007 and 2009.
Every region in Britain had seen a decline in manufacturing employment, said the union. The regions that have seen the biggest fall in seven years are the North West, losing 85,000 people from the industry, London losing 54,000, the South East 52,000 and Scotland 37,000.
“The recovery in the UK cannot be put on a sound footing and a further recession is inevitable unless the Government puts in place a strategy to close the huge and unsustainable balance of payments deficit,” said the GMB.
