Economy: Research

About us

Research support for the Economy Directorate of the GMCA is provided through the delivery of three main priorities:  

• Economic monitoring: The economic monitoring function of the team aims to provide ongoing intelligence on the performance of the GM economy. This is provided through structured inputs to relevant boards and stakeholder groups (including the Combined Authority, Business Board and Economic Resilience Group). Economic monitoring is supported by a range of dashboards such as the Economy Factbook and Economic Resilience Dashboard presented below.

• Commissioning and delivery support: The team provides research support to the commissioning and delivery activity undertaken by the Economy directorate. This aims to embed research and evidence at all stages of the policy cycle and use research principles for the gathering of insight and intelligence

• Evaluation: The team works to ensure that learning is maximised from both commissioned and directly delivered activity undertaken by the Economy directorate. This has typically taken the form of developing the specification for evaluation activity and overseeing its delivery. 

This page is dedicated to the work of the Economy Research team, to explore the work of the wider GMCA Economy team, please visit the Economy web page.

Greater Manchester Economy Factbook 

The Greater Manchester Economy Factbook is a comprehensive collection of key facts about the Greater Manchester (GM) economy intended as a reference for leaders, policymakers, analysts and anyone interested in learning about GM's economy. All data is sourced from publicly available official data and updated annually.

The data is divided into seven sections:

• Population provides an overview of GM's demography

• Economy provides information on economic growth and productivity

• Employment Counts provides information on the number of people in employment and jobs counts

• Employment Rates and Earnings provides information on employment and unemployment rates as well as median earnings

• Business Demography provides information on GM's business base

• International provides information on GM's international trade

• Tourism provides information on GM's visitor economy and tourism

View the Greater Manchester Economy Factbook (Tableau, opens in new window)

Economic Resilience Dashboard 

The Economic Resilience Dashboard provides information on the recent economic conditions within the GM economy. The dashboard is updated with the best available data each quarter. Data is drawn from publicly available datasets as well as data from some of our key partners including The Growth Company and Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce.

The dashboard is divided into six sections:

• Analysis summarises the economic conditions of the latest quarter

• Labour Market provides leading indicators on employment and economic activity

• Cost Pressures provides data on pay, debt and inflation

• Business Outlook provides data on business sentiment and confidence

• National Indicators provides leading indicators on the state of the economy nationally

• International Trade provides up to date information on exports at different geographies

View the Economic Resilience Dashboard (Tableau, opens in new window)