Business News Round Up (16/07/2020)

Unemployment in Scotland rises faster than UK average to 4.3%

The number of people in work in Scotland fell by 47,000 between March and May as the impact of lockdown hit, according to new figures. Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed the number of people aged 16 to 64 in employment fell to 74.1% (2.642 million), a 1.2% decrease compared to the previous quarter. The number of people who were out of work rose by 15,000 between March and May this year. ONS figures show the unemployment rate for people aged over 16 rose to 4.3% (120,000) during that period, a 0.6% increase on the previous quarter. This was higher than the UK unemployment rate of 3.9%.

https://www.insider.co.uk/news/unemployment-scotland-rises-faster-uk-22364278

Annual house price growth grinds to a halt

Annual house price growth in the UK has ground to a halt in June, with prices down 0.1% year-on-year according to the latest House Price Index by Nationwide. This represents the first negative annual growth since 2012 as the effects of the pandemic begin to show. Prices saw a monthly decline of 1.4% and regional house price growth rates were within the narrow range of 0-5% in Q2. Mortgage activity has also seen a dramatic slowdown, with only 9,300 approvals for house purchases in May compared to 73,700 in February. This is an 86% decline from figures recorded in May 2019.

https://www.propertywire.com/news/annual-house-price-growth-grinds-to-a-halt/

5000 jobs on line in aerospace and aviation, says Fraser of Allander report

A new report by the Fraser of Allander Institute has warned that approximately 5,000 jobs are at risk in the aerospace engineering and civil aviation industries, resulting in a £325 million loss to the Scottish economy. The report, commissioned by the Unite Scotland trade union, estimated 1,500 direct job losses are in civil aviation, from companies including Menzies Aviation and Swissport – with a knock-on effect for another 830 jobs. Following aerospace engineering redundancy consultations and voluntary severance schemes for 1,225 roles at Rolls-Royce, GE Caledonian, Spirit Aerosystems and Wyman Gordon, the report also forecasts the ultimate loss of 2,530 jobs across Scotland. Scotland’s Gross Value Added (GVA) could suffer an overall loss of approximately £140 million because of the impact on the civil aviation industry, in addition to a £185 million decrease from the aerospace engineering sector, the FAI estimates.

https://www.insider.co.uk/news/5000-jobs-line-aerospace-aviation-22363204

Citylabs takes major step forward

Citylabs – a joint venture between Manchester University NHS Foundation Trust (MFT) and Manchester Science Partnerships (MSP) – has taken a major step forward. The 90,000 sq ft second phase of the project, dubbed Citylabs 2.0, has reached practical completion. Costing £25 million, it has been part-funded by the European Regional Development Fund and will create and support up to 1,500 jobs, adding almost £150 million to the city’s economy over the next decade. Designed by Sheppard Robson, work on Citylabs 2.0 by Sir Robert McAlpine, BuroFour, Gardiner & Theobald, Hilson Moran, Arup and Planit continued throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. It will be joined by Citylabs 4.0, which received planning consent earlier this year.

https://www.insidermedia.com/news/north-west/citylabs-takes-major-step-forward