BOURNEMOUTH’S biggest private sector employer, JP Morgan, delivered record revenue in the third quarter of 2019.

The US banking giant, which employs around 4,000 people locally, reported revenue of 29.3billion US dollars, up eight per cent.

Chairman and chief executive Jamie Dimon said: “JPMorgan Chase delivered record revenue this quarter, demonstrating broad-based strength and the resilience of our business model despite a more challenging interest rate backdrop.”

But he said growth in the American economy had slowed slightly.

“The consumer remains healthy with growth in wages and spending, combined with strong balance sheets and low unemployment levels. This is being offset by weakening business sentiment and capital expenditures mostly driven by increasingly complex geopolitical risks, including tensions in global trade,” he said.

“Regardless of the operating environment, JPMorgan Chase will continue to serve our customers, clients and communities globally, while investing in innovation, talent, technology, security and controls,” he added.

Earlier this year, Bournemouth East MP Tobias Ellwood voiced his concerns that JP Morgan would “think about departing Bournemouth” if Britain left the European Union without a deal.

Mr Ellwood’s Bournemouth West counterpart said the remarks took “scaremongering to new heights”.

During the 2016 referendum campaign, Jamie Dimon visited the bank’s Bournemouth site with then-chancellor George Osborne to warn that up to 4,000 of the bank’s UK jobs could disappear after Brexit.

Later, Mark Garvin, vice-chairman of JP Morgan’s corporate and investment bank, said the initial job losses at the bank would be “in the hundreds” but the impact could be “significantly larger” in the coming years.