The number of people employed in the UK’s leather and textile industries has slumped 50% in the past five years – more than in any other manufacturing division.

According to research by the National Office of Statistics, overall employment figures for the UK’s manufacturing industry declined 16% to 3.5 million. In the spring of 1998 the sector accounted for 17% of all jobs, this figure now stands at 14%.

Around 2.6 million men are currently employed by manufacturing companies, compared with under one million women.

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