Economic update

Sections:

Introduction

This website is regularly updated monthly with information about Bristol’s economy as it changes during this period of recession.

The key indicators for the recession, house prices and JSA (Job Seekers Allowance) claimants, have stablized in recent months:

After increasing rapidly (more than doubling) in the year to May-09 and remaining more or less unchanged in the 3 months to Aug-09, the number of JSA claimants resident in Bristol has fallen for the 4 consecutive months to Nov-09.

There were 10,799 JSA claimants resident in Bristol in November 2009 (Nomis). This represents 3.8% of the Working Age Population (WAP) of Bristol and is 0.3 percentage points below the rate (4.1%) for England.
After 18 months of house price falls, average house prices in Bristol rose for the fifth consecutive month to £163,493 in October 2009, a rise of 1.1% in the month and 8.7% since May-09, at which time house prices were at their lowest, averaging £150,462.

The annual drop between September 2008 and 2009 was 4.9% which is the lowest annual change since September 2008. However, demand remained low with only 457 sales reported in August 2009 (Land Registry), that is only just over half the average (850) sales for August in the ten years to 2007.

For more information and help for businesses and individuals on investment, jobs and training, finance, housing and energy advice visit Beat the Recession pages.
The council has put into place a Recession Action Plan to help create more jobs and training opportunities, provide advice and support, and deliver financial help wherever possible.