The latest North East economic activity rate
Economic activity measures whether a person is an active participant in the labour market. Economically active people include all those in any type of employment and other people who are actively seeking a job. The latter are classified as uenmployed. Anyone in neither of these categories is classified as economically inactive. The headline economic activity rate is expressed as a percentage of people aged 16 to 64, a proxy for the working age population.
The latest rate is based on survey data from throughout the 2023 calendar year. In that period, in the North East, among those aged 16 to 64:
- Just under 76% were economically inactive
- this was higher than in 2021 and 2022 but lower than in 2020
- the rate was lower than that of England excluding London but the gap had narrowed in the latest two years
- the North East rate was the fourth lowest among the eight core city areas
- at local authority level, Gateshead had the highest rate, with South Tyneside having the lowest
- at constituency level, the highest North East rate was in Blyth Valley in Northumberland.