CUMBRIA has fewer manufacturing jobs than it had before the financial crisis hit in 2008, new figures show.

A survey commissioned by the GMB union, using figures from the Office for National Statistics, shows that 33,400 people were employed in manufacturing in Cumbria last year, 2,300 fewer than in 2008.

The trend applies across the country. In the North West, there are 84,700 fewer manufacturing jobs, while nationally the number has fallen by 385,500 to 2.97m.

The decline in manufacturing employment is mirrored by growth in the UK's balance of payments deficit, which has risen from 3.6 per cent of GDP in 2008 to more than 5.0 per cent in 2015.

Paul McCarthy, GMB regional secretary, said: “It is a fundamental truth that the recovery in the UK cannot be put on a sound footing until the Government put in place a strategy to close the balance of payments deficit.

“Closing this deficit is ultimately more important than dealing with the public sector deficit.

"The Government have to accept that we are travelling in the wrong direction with another 385,000 manufacturing jobs lost in the UK over the last seven years."

He added: “Unless the UK Government and the devolved administrations address this unsustainable deficit, another recession is inevitable.”