. The construction industry in the North West hasalso been severely impacted by the recession.Construction output fell by 17% between 2007 and2010 and Cebr predict real direct GVA to have fallenby 11% over the same period. However, output didgrow in real terms in 2010.. The North West saw the lowest growth of newhousing. In volume terms, this fell by 25% in 2008and by 35% in 2009. This was driven by large fallsin the volume of private housing, but only modestincreases in public housing.. The volume of new infrastructure grew by 41% in2008, remained stable in 2009 before growing againin 2010 by nearly 20%.. Employment in construction in the North West hasfallen in every year since 2007, currently standing at130,915 FTE jobs, a decline of 17% since the 2007level of 159,708. Economic contribution to the NORTH WEST of ENGLAND© Centre for Economics 14and Business Research Ltd, 2011Source: ONS, Nomis, Cebr modelling Real GVA and FTE jobs in the North West - 20 40 60 80 100 120 140 160 180 6,000 6,500 7,000 7,500 8,000 8,500 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 GVA constant prices (£m, LHS) Full-Time Equivalents (FTE) ('000s, RHS)

Economic contribution to the NORTH WEST of ENGLAND© Centre for Economics and Business Research Ltd, 201115. The sector accounted for 6.8% of the region'sworkplace GVA in 2008, greater than the UKaverage of 6.4%.. The total contribution to regional GVA of theindustry stood at £20,234m in 2010. Thecorresponding regional multiplier is 92.5% of theUK-wide multiplier, meaning that about 7.5% of theimpact of the construction sector in the North Westis felt elsewhere in the UK. . The construction sector accounted for 6.3% ofworkforce jobs in 2011, falling from a high of 7.2%in 2008.. A total 329,175 FTE jobs were supported byconstruction activity throughout the North-East in2011, compared to the 401,574 in 2007.. The construction sector comprised 25,315enterprises in 2011, 25,275 of which were SMEs.Their construction activities supported a further27,920 SMEs throughout the region - a total of53,195 SMEs being supported through constructionsupply chains.Source: ONS, Cebr modelling Direct GVA and employment contributions and total direct, indirect and induced impacts on the North West regional economy Year 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 GVA (£m, constant 2010 prices) 8,234 8,022 6,920 7,356 Total GVA impact (£m, current prices) 22,347 22,655 19,509 20,234 Direct employment (FTE jobs) 159,708 157,875 152,400 139,959 130,915 Total employment impact (FTE jobs) 401,574 396,965 383,198 351,915 329,175