Andrew G Haldane: One Car, Two Car, Red Car, Blue Car

Speech by Mr Andrew G Haldane, Executive Director and Chief Economist of the Bank of England, at the Materials Processing Institute, Redcar, 2 December 2016.

The views expressed in this speech are those of the speaker and not the view of the BIS.

As someone whose family hails from the North-East, and who themselves was born in the North-East, it is wonderful to be here in Redcar. Regional visits like this are crucial for the Bank of England. They enable us to take the temperature of the local economy by speaking to a broad cross-section of businesses, charities, social enterprises, schools, further and higher education institutions and trade unions.

Here in the North-East, it is clear the temperature of the local economy is not as high as either you or I would wish. Despite having come down rapidly over recent years, the unemployment rate, at over 6%, is still higher than for any other region in the UK. And the closure of the steelworks down the road a little over a year ago was a further blow to Teesside, with the loss of 2,200 jobs.