The Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire economy saw steady slow growth through much of 2010 with many of the economic variables returning to pre-recession levels. The last quarter results showed that the rate of growth slowed against a background of cautious spending, public expenditure cuts and increasing inflation.
Export sales slightly deteriorated slightly in both counties but Derbyshire businesses were more positive than there counterparts in Nottinghamshire. Despite planned tax rises and expenditure cuts, more businesses are positive rather than negative about their prospects across a range of indicators for the first quarter of 2011. Overall 20% of businesses expect to increase their workforces whilst 10% expect to shed labour. The construction sector is the only sector expecting to see an overall decline in jobs in the next three months. More construction companies, however are looking to secure contracts abroad.