EMPLOYERS’ organisation, the CBI, today unveiled detailed analysis of the UK labour market which it claims reveals deep-seated structural problems which will not be solved by a return to economic growth alone.

The report – Mapping the route to growth: rebalancing employment – marks the start of a project for the CBI which will explore what is needed to get the UK working.

By mapping the state of the labour market region-by-region, the CBI’s analysis reveals that the decade of growth before the recession masked entrenched problems, including pockets of long-term unemployment and inactivity, high public sector dependency and serious skills shortages. The mapping was conducted by Esri UK using geographic information system technology.

Projections of future employment trends suggest these labour market divisions will deepen as the recovery continues, with highly-skilled jobs expected to be most in demand in London and the South East rather than the North.

John Cridland, CBI director-general, said: “The Government has rightly focused on tackling the structural deficit in the public finances, but needs to apply the same rigour to attacking the structural jobs deficit.”