North East regional labour market statistics

Introduction

On Tuesday 13th August 2024, the Office of National Statistics (ONS) released the latest regional labour market data, most of which covered the second quarter of 2024 (April to June). 

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

• The lowest working age employment rate among the nine English regions (69.0%, England 75.0%)
• the fourth highest unemployment rate (4.6% of economically active adults, England 4.2%) 
• the highest working age economic inactivity rate (27.4%, England 21.6%).

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

• Employment in the North East region was estimated to have fallen by 71,400
• the working age (16 to 64) employment rate was estimated to have fallen by 4.8 percentage points (pp)
• this was the largest pp decrease among the nine English regions. England’s rate decreased by 0.6 pp
• North East regional unemployment was estimated to have increased by 3,800, with the rate increasing by 0.5 pp
• this was the second largest pp increase among the English regions, with the England rate unchanged over the year
• there was an estimated increase of 74,300 in working age economic inactivity in the region, with the rate increasing by 4.4 pp
• this was the largest pp increase among the English regions. England’s rate increased by 0.7 pp.

The ONS release warn that estimates of quarterly change should be treated with caution. With this caveat, compared to the previous quarter (Jan-Mar 2024):

• Employment in the North East region was estimated to have fallen by 2,800, with the working age employment rate decreasing by 0.1 pp 
• the decrease in employment was accompanied by an increase of 3,000 in unemployment, but, in contrast, there was a decrease of 3,600 in working age economic inactivity. 

Female and male employment

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

• The latest male working age employment rate (69.0%) was the lowest among the nine English regions, with the female rate (68.9%) being the second lowest
• the gap between the North East region and England rates was larger for males (8.9 pp) than for females (3.3 pp)
• the male working age economic inactivity rate (26.7%) was the highest among English regions, with the female rate (28.1%) being the second highest
• the male unemployment rate (5.2%) was the second highest regional rate, while the female rate (4.0%) was only the fifth highest
• compared to a year earlier, male employment in the region was 48,100 lower, with female employment 23,200 lower
• experimental estimates suggest, in percentage terms, the largest decrease in North East employment over the year had been among males aged 16 to 24.

PAYE (Pay As You Earn) employees

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

• The number of PAYE employees in the North East region was about 9,900 higher than in July 2023, with the total in the North East combined authority area being 7,000 higher 
• in the latest month the number of such employees increased by almost 900 across the North East region and by 600 in the combined authority area
• median monthly payroll pay in the North East region in July 2024 was about 6.1% higher than a year earlier, a slightly larger percentage increase than nationally (+5.6%)
• these percentage pay increases were both higher than the latest Consumer Prices Index (CPI) annual rate of inflation (2.0% in June 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 July 2024:

• About 51,500 people in the North East combined authority area were receiving benefits for this purpose, almost 4,000 more than in July 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 (4.9%) was higher than the female rate (3.6%)
• within the North East, the rate was highest in South Tyneside (5.6%) and lowest in Northumberland (3.3%).

Redundancies

According to responses to the Labour Force Survey in the second quarter of 2024 (Apr-Jun) :

• Almost 2,900 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 2.7 per 1,000 employees, lower than the England equivalent (4.0)
• 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 April to June three month period:

• HR1 forms were received from 26 employers in the North East region
• potential redundancies cited in these forms totalled about 1,300
• this was slightly lower than the equivalent total of 1,400 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.