Full-time workers in Dorset earn 10 per cent less than the rest of the country on average, according to a new report.

Dorset County Council’s (DCC) State of Dorset report on the economy states that the average weekly pay for full-time employees in the county is £498, compared with £552 nationally.

It comes as a DCC report into deprivation found that nine neighbourhoods in Dorset fall into the top 20 per cent nationally for income deprivation, up from five in 2010, with seven being in Weymouth and Portland.

But in 2016, lower end house prices were more than ten times higher than lower end earnings in Dorset.

Professor Nigel Jump, professor of regional economic development at Bournemouth University, added: "Dorset’s labour market remained tight in 2017.

"The UK average employment rate was 74.7 per cent and the unemployment rate was 4.4 per cent.

"On the latter, Dorset as a whole and the various parts of Dorset were ‘better’ than average but usual, the more urban areas were looser than more rural.

"Overall, Dorset has little problem employing residents who want and are able to work. It is the productivity of the labour force that needs more attention."

Professor Jump also raised concerns that the average salary of residents living in the county was 20 per cent lower than the UK average with residents in rural Dorset earning an average of just under £18,000 a year while residents in Poole and Bournemouth earning an average of £22,000 per year.

However, the report also raised concerns about the county's working-age population which was expected to fall by 3,000 in Dorset over the next 10 years while it expected employment growth of 13,000 by 2027 but stressed a quarter of these positions will be part-time.

The economy report highlights that in Dorset, for every hour worked the county produces almost ten per cent less than the UK average, leading to a productivity gap of £830million.

Professor Jump added: "Productivity-led, long-term sustainable, ‘green’ growth remains a mere aspiration.

"The two new unitary authorities, the Dorset LEP and all others engaged in local economic development will have to address these structural and cyclical conundrums in their future economic strategies."

Commenting on the report, a spokesman for Dorset County Council, said: “Government spending cuts affect the wider economy through supply chains and reduced funding grants for the voluntary and community sector.

“By means of local procurement, the council can add to social and environmental wellbeing in the county as well as economic value, for example through contracts with firms that ensure sustainable working practices and those offering quality apprenticeships.”

Councillor James Farquharson, Briefholder for Economic Development at Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, said: “The borough council has ‘support for the local economy’ as it’s number one priority.

"We want everyone to have a job and to earn a good salary know how hard it can be when money is scarce."