Countryside 'recovering fast from recession'

A new study from the Government's rural watchdog, the Commission for Rural Communities (CRC), said that the economic downturn has hit labour markets more than the devastating disease outbreak of 2001.

The CRC report also states that managers, professionals and skilled workers have born the brunt of the job cuts in rural areas and that people aged over 50 have been laid off at a rate three times as high in the countryside as elsewhere.

Redundancy profiles have been higher in rural areas for key industries such as construction, retail, hospitality and public sectors.

However the study also yields some promising news by claiming that the countryside is exiting the recession at a faster rate than urban areas, with the best recovery signs being seen in rural communities.

The claims have been made in the latest study the CRC has produced into the rural recession, all of which are handed direct to Prime Minister Gordon Brown.

The study said: "Rural residents have experienced more difficult labour markets, with greater and more diverse job losses, unemployment and fewer vacancies during the recession than during the most rurally distinct crises of recent years, namely foot and mouth.

"Rural areas have witnessed substantial percentage increases in the numbers of redundancies, and in the more responsive and precise measure of joblessness."

The study also outlined methods in which the rural recovery could be augmented, saying: "Opportunities exist in empowering the substantial number of enterprising rural firms, often SMEs, in rural economies to grow, develop and to form critical networks as a means of doing business rather than leaving them to stand alone and for too many to be reliant on a credit card for funds".

The report states how between October 2008 and February 2009 many rural communities, particularly those in sparsely populated areas, recorded a 200 per cent increase in the number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance.

However it later says that, following detailed monitoring of the number of claimants in rural areas, that Britain's countryside has shown the strongest signs of employment recovery.

Since April 2009 it says that the number of localities experiencing more people coming off benefits than claiming them has increased at a far faster rate than in urban areas.

It further says that Britain's countryside is showing signs of a healthier labour market than in towns and cities, with professional and higher skilled occupations looking "relatively more secure".