The recession is widening the gap between rich and poor regions in the country, and making things worse for areas that are already badly off.
A report from the Centre for Cities says the downturn has simply reinforced the economic geography. 'Many of the cities that have been hit hardest are places still suffering from the legacy of industrial restructuring and previous recessions,' say the analysts.
The Centre's annual economic health-check of England's cities and regions shows that five big players are the drivers of business. London, Greater Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds and Merseyside account for 39% of all jobs in England.
The experts ranked the cities by the number of jobseekers between February 2008 (when unemployment was at its lowest) and November 2009 and found that the difference between the strongest and weakest 10 cities has increased by 70%. The industrial areas of West Midlands and the North have been hardest hit.
Hull and Cambridge come in at the top and bottom of the jobless scale. The North Eastern port added more than 6100 people to the unemployment register while the university town saw the jobless rise by 705.
Cities with a strong independent business base and a high-skilled population, such as York and Reading, tend to perform well, say the experts. Areas that are struggling, such as Barnsley, would be better served by linking in to more prosperous neighbours rather than trying to create jobs on their own.
With a public spending squeeze on the horizon, cities that are heavily dependent on public sector jobs and which have seen little private employment growth in the last decade, will be particularly vulnerable.
Ultimately, the Centre sees private sector jobs as a key factor. It warns politicians that, instead of launching high profile regeneration projects, they should create the right climate for private sector job creation, for example by investment in transport links and in strengthening local skills.
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