Member Article

North East unemployment at lowest rate for a decade, according to latest ONS data

The latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures have shown an increase of 10,000 over the quarter and 25,000 over the year.

For the period July to September, employment in the region has stood at 1,234,000 or 72.7% while North East unemployment stands at 71,000 or 5.5% - a fall of 6,000 over the quarter.

North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Senior Economist Victoria Sutherland gave her reaction to today’s positive regional labour market statistics.

She commented: “Today’s data is encouraging. It shows the number of people in employment in the North East has increased by 10,000 on the quarter and 25,000 on the year.

“There have also been declines in unemployment, with 6,000 fewer individuals unemployed than last quarter and 8,000 fewer unemployed than this time last year.

“The improvements in the employment rate and the unemployment rate have been better in the North East than across England as a whole over the quarter and the year.

“In addition, there are only two regions (the East of England and the South East), that have had a larger improvement in their employment rate than the North East over the last quarter.

“Interestingly, over the last year, most of the growth in employment has been among women, with 18,000 more women in work than a year ago. However, over the last quarter, the majority of the increase has been amongst men.

“It remains an uncertain economic environment so it is good to see employment is growing and unemployment declining. Given concerns over other economic data recently, we welcome these positive trends for the North East.

“We would like to see next week’s Budget and the Government’s Industrial Strategy bring forward plans that will support the North East to continue to grow its economy and create good quality employment opportunities for its residents.”

Paul Carbert, policy adviser, North East England Chamber of Commerce, added: “The labour market statistics released this morning continue the recent positive trend for the North East.

“Employment levels and the employment rate are at record highs, and the number of part-time workers who cannot find a full-time job has fallen over the past year. Unemployment in the North East is now at the lowest rate for a decade.

“However, the gap between our region and London and the South East remains too large. We have called on the Government to address this issue by using the upcoming Budget to correct the historic under-investment in the North East’s transport infrastructure, provide guarantees over future regional business finance once Britain leaves the EU, and to ensure that companies have the support they need to access new international markets.”

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