The leader of Cumbria Chamber of Commerce said that there are an estimated ten thousand fewer people in work than two years ago.

Suzanne Caldwell said: 

"It's estimated that up to ten thousand more people are disengaged from the labour market in Cumbria than two years ago and up to eight thousand fewer are self employed.

"This just puts more and more pressure on an already tight labour market."

This is despite the fact that there are over three thousand jobs listed on Indeed for the Cumbria region. 

Ms. Caldwell pointed to the lack of affordable public transport and the current cost of fuel being an issue in the region: 

"As a rural county transport costs hit consumers and businesses particularly hard. It worsens labour shortages as it becomes more and more expensive to travel to work. 

"It's no wonder that growth forecasts are so low and we're anticipating challenging times to come."

This is in response to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) report. 

The OECD expects the UK economy to grow by 3.6 percent this year, followed by 0 percent growth next year.

It predicts that the UK will be the slowest growing economy in the G7 in 2023.