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North East regional labour market statistics

The most up to date sub-national data - the North East statistical region includes the North East and Tees Valley combined authority (CA) areas

Labour Market
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Introduction

On Tuesday 15th October 2024, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) released the latest regional labour market data, most of which covered the three-month period of June to August 2024. 

The release is the headline summary of the most up to date statistics about the labour market in the nine broad English regions, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland. It accompanies a more detailed UK labour market summary. The North East region in this release includes the North East and Tees Valley combined authority areas.

Headline regional labour market rates in the release are based on responses to the ONS Labour Force Survey (LFS). However, falling response rates mean that statistics from this source have become more volatile and are currently described as “official statistics in development” rather than National Statistics. Because of this, the regional labour market release includes additional information from administrative data.


Headline labour market rates

In the Jun-Aug 2024 three-month period, the North East region was estimated to have had:

  • The lowest working age employment rate among the nine English regions (70.0%, England 75.6%)
  • the highest unemployment rate (5.6% of economically active adults, England 4.0%) 
  • the highest working age economic inactivity rate (25.7%, England 21.2%).

Compared to a year earlier (Jun-Aug 2023):

  • Employment in the North East region was estimated to have fallen by 5,700
  • the working age (16 to 64) employment rate was estimated to have fallen by 0.9 percentage points (pp)
  • this was the second largest pp decrease among the nine English regions. England’s rate increased by 0.5 pp
  • North East regional unemployment was estimated to have increased by 15,900, with the rate increasing by 1.2 pp
  • this was the largest pp increase among the English regions. England rate's decreased by 0.2 pp over the year
  • there was an estimated increase of 2,100 in working age economic inactivity in the region, but the rate was unchanged
  • this was the median pp change among the English regions. England’s rate decreased by 0.4 pp.

Female and male employment

In the Jun-Aug 2024 three-month period, in the North East region:

  • The latest female and male working age employment rates (69.8% and 70.1%, respectively) were both the lowest among the nine English regions
  • the gap between female and male rates was much smaller in the North East than in any of the other eight English regions. The gap between the North East and England rates was much larger for males (8.4 pp) than for females (2.9 pp)
  • the male working age economic inactivity rate (24.5%) was the highest among English regions, with the female rate (26.9%) being the second highest
  • the male unemployment rate (6.3%) was the highest regional rate, while the female rate (4.8%) was the second highest
  • compared to a year earlier, male employment in the region was 4,500 lower, with female employment 1,200 lower
  • experimental estimates suggest, in percentage terms, the largest decreases in North East employment over the year had been among males and females aged 35 to 49.

PAYE (Pay As You Earn) employees

Early, seasonally adjusted, estimates for September 2024 indicate that: 

  • The number of PAYE employees in the North East region was just over 4,800 higher than in September 2023, with the total in the North East combined authority area being 2,900 higher 
  • in the latest month the number of such employees decreased by almost 600 across the North East region, with most of the decrease in the combined authority area
  • median monthly payroll pay in the North East region in September 2024 was about 6.0% higher than a year earlier, a slightly larger percentage increase than nationally (up 5.3%)
  • both percentage pay increases were higher than the latest CPIH annual rate of inflation (2.6% in September 2024)
  • North East regional median employee pay was about 94% of the UK equivalent
  • this administrative dataset gives additional evidence about recent changes in the regional and local labour market but source does not provide information about self-employed workers or those outside of the PAYE system. It is subject to revisions.

Jobseeker benefit claimants

According to the ONS estimates of the number of people claiming benefits principally for the reason of seeking employment, In September 2024:

  • Just over 51,000 people in the North East combined authority area were receiving benefits for this purpose, almost 5,000 more than in September 2023
  • the total represented about 4.2% of the working age population, a lower rate than England’s (4.4%) 
  • the male rate in the North East (4.8%) was higher than the female rate (3.6%)
  • within the North East, the rate was highest in South Tyneside (5.5%) and lowest in Northumberland (3.3%).

Redundancies

According to responses to the Labour Force Survey in the three month period of Jun-Aug 2024:

  • Just over 2,500 people in the North East region stated that they had been made redundant in the three months prior to interview 
  • this was equivalent to a rate of 2.3 per 1,000 employees, lower than the England equivalent (3.0)
  • these statistics are based on a small sample size so they can be volatile.

The ONS also publishes data based on HR1 forms used by employers to notify the Insolvency Service of potential redundancies of 20 or more. According to this, in the Jun-Aug 2024 three month period:

  • HR1 forms were received from 26 employers in the North East region
  • potential redundancies cited in these forms totalled about 1,200
  • this was slightly lower than the equivalent total in the same period of 2023
  • this dataset is an estimate of potential rather than actual redundancies and does not include information about smaller-scale redundancies.

About this data

Where possible, the North East Evidence Hub focuses on statistics at combined authority or local authority area level to monitor trends in the North East economy. The labour market data section of the Hub provides comprehensive links to information at that level.

Local labour market statistics are usually released every three months and are mainly based on surveys over a 12-month period. The monthly regional labour market release provides a more timely snapshot of headline trends for an area that includes both the North East and Tees Valley combined authority areas, although the detail is more limited.

The ONS publish the regional labour market bulletins on their website. Each month they also publish a national UK labour market overview. The full set of national and regional datasets includes a mixture of survey data and administrative information.