Employment rate
In the April 2023 to March 2024 period, among those aged 16 to 64 (a proxy for working age):
- The North East employment rate was 71.7%
- this rate was more than four percentage points (pp) below the England excluding London rate, but the gap had narrowed in the latest year
- the rate was 1.2 pp higher than a year earlier and had only been higher in one of the last 20 years (Apr 2018 - Mar 2019)
- the North East had the median employment rate among the nine combined authority areas in the north and midlands
- at local authority level, the highest rate was in County Durham, with the lowest in South Tyneside
- at constituency level, the rate was highest in City of Durham and lowest in South Shields.