Dundee is one of the worst performing cities in the UK, according to a major new report.
Findings published in the Centre for Cities: Cities Outlook 2014 report (PDF link) reveal that Dundee is one of the slowest growing cities in the UK in terms of population while economically it lags behind most other cities.
It also found the city is performing poorly economically, with one of the lowest rates of new business start-ups and the second lowest number of business per 10,000 people.
The survey, which compares 64 cities across the UK, also found that the number of people who say they are not satisfied with their lives is rising faster in Dundee than almost anywhere else in the country.
Dundee, Aberdeen, Glasgow and Edinburgh are the only Scottish cities included.
The report found that Dundee’s population now stands at 147,800 but is only growing at 0.2% a year the eighth lowest rate in the country. The city also has the seventh lowest rate of business start-ups (27.1 per 10,000 of the population).
It also has the eighth lowest employment rate in the UK, and the lowest of all four Scottish cities included in the survey. Just 64.3% of the working age population are in employment, down 1.9% on the year.
This places Dundee alongside unemployment blackspots such as Middlesbrough, Coventry and Burnley.
Dundee also has the second lowest ratio of private to public sector jobs.
There are just 1.4 private sector jobs, a total of 43,200 posts, for the 29,900 public sector positions that exist in the city.
And, by measuring the difference between areas of city with the highest and lowest unemployment rates, the authors of the report have concluded Dundee is the fifth most unequal city in the UK.
Overall, Dundee has the 11th highest rate of JSA claimants out of any city in the UK, with 4.4% of the population receiving benefits. It also has the fifth highest rate of long-term claimants.
However, Dundee does have the sixth highest proportion of areas with access to superfast broadband and is one of only 16 cities where more than 34.5% of the population are educated to HNC level or above. Conversely, 13% of the working age population has no qualifications.
Average earnings in the city are also on the rise. The average weekly wage in 2013 was £436, a £15 increase in real wages since the year before.
The report also warned that London is undergoing an economic boom that has left other cities in the UK lagging behind.
Dundee City Council leader Ken Guild said: “For a number of years we have been working towards growing Dundee as a thriving regional centre with a diverse economy.
“We remain certain that the strategies we are pursuing are the right ones for Dundee.”
A Scottish Government spokesman added: “Scotland will only be able to provide a real counterbalance to the strength of London, by retaining and building our working age population, securing the additional jobs and investment we need, as well as retaining key headquarters and improving our connections to the rest of the world with the full powers of independence.
“With the full fiscal and economic powers of independence, we can take a different approach to Westminster austerity and do more to support growth across Scotland.”
But Kevin Keenan, leader of the Labour group on Dundee City Council, said: “The Scottish Government needs to start levering jobs towards Dundee and it needs to start before the referendum.”
He added a Memorandum of Understanding signed to develop the city’s port more than two years ago has so far failed to bring jobs to the city.