Shropshire economy outperforms Midlands cities
Shropshire's economy outpaced those of Birmingham, Coventry and the Black Country during the second quarter of the year, new figures have revealed.
Shropshire was named the fourth fastest growing area of the West Midlands.
However, the pace of growth slowed when compared with the first quarter, mirroring recent data from Shropshire Chamber of Commerce's Quarterly Economic Survey which suggested that economic growth was beginning to plateau.
The quarterly regional growth tracker from Royal Bank of Scotland showed that Shropshire's economy grew by 2.9 per cent in the second quarter, when compared with a year before.
Telford & Wrekin's output grew by 2.1 per cent in the same period, the figures revealed.
However, those figures compare with growth of 3.1 per cent and 2.5 per cent for Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin respectively during quarter one. By comparison, Birmingham's second quarter output was up by 1.6 per cent, Wolverhampton's by 1.8 per cent, and Coventry's by 0.8 per cent. Dudley's was static.
Herefordshire was the fastest growing part of the West Midlands, up 3.3 per cent, followed by Warwickshire (3.1 per cent) and Worcestershire (three per cent). Shropshire was fourth.
The West Midlands as a whole was among the slowest-growing parts of the country during the period, with quarter-on-quarter growth of 0.4 per cent.
Retail & wholesale, professional services and transport equipment manufacturing were the largest contributors to growth across the region. However, that relative reliance on manufacturing meant that it had a tougher quarter than some other regions.
Despite that, unemployment fell during the quarter and now stands at six per cent, just above the UK average of 5.6 per cent.
RBS's regional director Andy Lee said: "When we speak to customers there is a high level of confidence within the West Midlands and the falling unemployment rates are very positive.
"We are working with a number of universities in the West Midlands to support their business incubators, as the trend in university spin outs is on the rise in the region."
Shrewsbury and Telford have both added campuses for local universities recently.