Conflicting figures released today show that while the Yorkshire region is showing a fragile recovery, another study shows a rash of business failures.

The GMB Union's latest study suggests that Yorkshire, along with London, the North West and North East as well as Northern Ireland, are all seeing a slow recovery.

The figures show that in Yorkshire and Humberside the number of jobless fell by 107,709 between October 1993 and October this year, when the figure stood at 126,868.

But according to the latest figures published today by chartered accountants Deloitte & Touche, business failures in Yorkshire almost doubled last month.

In October the total number of receiverships and administration appointments in the region totalled 13, a sharp increase on the seven reported for September.

Angus Martin, the Corporate Recovery Partner in the Leeds office of Deloitte & Touche, said that the latest figures brought the regional total for the year so far to 131.

"The latest figures are disappointing after the sharp fall in September. They are now back up to the level which we saw in the summer and are evidence of the continued slowdown in the economy," said Mr Martin. "It is too early to see any benefit from the two recent cuts in interest rates but it is likely that they will have to fall further if we are to avoid a serious deterioration in the region's economic health," he added.

Meanwhile, the number of appointments nationally continued to rise from 138 in September to 141 in October. This was the highest monthly total for the year so far.

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