London has experience relatively strong economic growth of late and yet despite this, London’s employment rate is about 5% below the national average.
The London Development Agency has said that putting unemployed Londoners into employment was possibly the biggest economic challenges that the city faces in coming years.
The UK’s average employment rate is 74.4%, London’s employment rate is just 69.3%, the city’s relatively low skills level is often blamed for the high level of worklessness. On top of this, the barriers still faced by some black and minority ethnic groups, disabled people, households with children and lone parent families add to the problems.
On a more positive note when relating to productivity levels many economists are predicting that the capital’s economy is set to grow even faster in the next few years.