Migration and fiscal policy as factors explaining the labour-market resilience of UK regions to the Great Recession

London has been at the vanguard of the UK’s recovery from recession, recovering its pre-recession levels of output and employment more rapidly than other regions. A large part of London’s stronger recovery can be explained by increased employment and reduced inactivity among overseas-born immigrants. Furthermore, net outmigration from London to other UK regions fell during the recession, and is only beginning to return to previous levels. Both factors have increased labour supply and may have contributed to more marked real wage falls in London than in other regions. Fiscal austerity may have accentuated the spatial pattern of the UK’s recovery.

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