Cities with a highly-skilled workforce - such as Cambridge, York and Oxford - are faring better in the recession than places such as Stoke or Rochdale where fewer workers have formal qualifications, according to a study.

The Work Foundation, an independent research organisation, said there was a "clear relationship" between low skills and increases in unemployment. It cited as examples Corby, Walsall, Blaenau Gwent and the Wear Valley, where the count of those unemployed and claiming benefits rose by at least 3.5 per cent over the year to May. Swindon, where a highly-skilled workforce also suffered a 3.5 per cent increase, was a rare exception, it said. Swindon's redundancies have been in the car sector and in distribution for Woolworths.