Employment rate

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.

Employment by sex and age

In the April 2023 to March 2024 period, among those aged 16 to 64:

• the North East female rate was 69.1% with the male rate being 74.4%
• although the former was lower, the latter had a larger gap to the England excluding London equivalent (5.1 pp compared to 3.3 pp)
• both the female and male North East rates had increased in the latest year
• comparing sex and age group combinations in the North East, the female and male rates were both highest among those aged 35 to 49
• the North East rate was only higher than the England excluding London equivalent among males aged 16 to 24
• compared to a year earlier, North East employment had increased most among females and males aged 35 to 49 and among males aged 16 to 24.

Workplace employment totals

In the North East in the Apr 23-Mar 24 period:

• Newcastle's workplace employment was 55,000 higher than the number of residents in employment. It was the only North East local authority area where this net in-commute was above 4,000
• Gateshead had a small net in-commute, Sunderland had a small net out-commute, and the other four local authority areas each had net out-commutes of over 15,000
• just under half of Newcastle's net in-commute was due to workers in managerial, professional and associate professional occupations, with these workers making up more than half of the net out-commute from each of County Durham, Northumberland and North Tyneside
• in South Tyneside, however, workers from lower paid occupations made up the highest proportion of the net out-commute
• the latest job densities (2022) ranged from 0.52 in South Tyneside to 1.03 in Newcastle upon Tyne, with (former) constituency level densities highest in Newcastle upon Tyne Central, Gateshead, and Washington and Sunderland West. Job densities of 0.8 or more result in areas requiring net in-commuting to fill jobs.

About the data

The headline employment rate measures the proportion of working age residents of an area who are in work.  The 16 to 64 age group is used by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) as a proxy for working age, partly to simplify historical and international comparisons.

People in employment include employees, self-employed people, unpaid family workers and those on Government supported training & employment programmes.

ONS also produce workplace-based employment statistics, although these are more limited. Comparing workplace and residence based employment provides information about net commuting within the North East but the workplace data excludes some workers who are not at a fixed workplace. 

The latest local labour market statistics are based on responses to the Annual Population Survey (APS) over a 12 month period between April 2023 and March 2024. This information is updated each quarter, with the latest time period having a nine month overlap with that of the previous release. Our time series charts follow ONS guidance and compare non-overlapping periods.