Manchester Monitor: Greater Manchester's GCSE results improve as youth unemployment rises

The latest Manchester Monitor highlights the stark reality that an increase in GCSE results across Greater Manchester has not been able to halt the rise in youth unemployment.

The November edition of the Manchester Monitor is released today by New Economy, whose purpose is to create economic growth and prosperity for Greater Manchester.

The analysis shows that GCSE levels of achievement for 2010/2011 increased across the whole of Greater Manchester with more than 50% of all students in each local authority achieving 5 or more GCSE’s at grades A*-C.

Despite the improved results, youth unemployment continues to rise in the region with the number of 16–24 year olds claiming Jobseeker’s allowance, rising to nearly 27,000 in September – a 4.5% increase from August 2011.

The Monitor also highlights that Greater Manchester’s housing market continues to remain quiet; it has been reported that the north–south divide in house prices has expanding, with asking prices in the south of England at £336,743 reaching more than double those in the north of England at £164,347.

Dr Alexander Roy, Head of Research at New Economy, said: “The Greater Manchester economy continues to remain fragile, and the ongoing eurozone crisis is increasing the risk of a double-dip recession.

Despite the tough environment, recent GCSE results suggest that Greater Manchester is starting to see the improvements in education it needs to deliver future growth. However, we need to be creating the jobs to supply the demand and unfortunately this is not presently the case.

Whilst the recent update of the Greater Manchester Forecasting Model (GMFM) has suggested that Greater Manchester is well-positioned to lead a recovery, there are some immediate challenges such as youth unemployment, which need to be tackled now.”