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Employment rate

Proportion of working age population in employment

Labour Market Newcastle North Tyneside South Tyneside Durham Gateshead Sunderland Northumberland
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The latest North East data

70.9%

North East employment rate

Oct 22-Sep 23
twelve-month period

A lower rate than nationally

England excl. London: 76.2%

-0.7 pp

decrease in latest year

England excl. London
+0.5 pp

73.6%

North Tyneside (highest rate)

South Tyneside (lowest)
62.4%

Key facts about the data:

  • The latest North East employment rate was lower than in the previous year but slightly higher than in 2020/21
  • apart from 2020/21, the North East rate was at its lowest since 2015/16
  • the England excluding London rate was higher than the North East's and the gap was the largest since 2012/13
  • for each area, the headline rate gives the percentage of residents aged 16 to 64 who are employed, including both employees and the self-employed
  • the North East rate was the second lowest among the eight core city areas
  • all seven North East local authority areas had lower employment rates than England excluding London
  • the highest rate was in North Tyneside, with the lowest in South Tyneside
  • at constituency level, the employment rate was highest in Newcastle upon Tyne North and lowest in Wansbeck.

Employment by sex and age

69.2%

North East female employment rate

Oct 22-Sep 23
England excl. London: 72.5%

+0.6 pp

increase in latest year

North East female rate

72.7%

North East male employment rate

Oct 22-Sep 23
England excl. London: 79.9%

-2.1 pp

decrease in latest year

North East male rate

Key facts about the data:

  • The latest North East male employment rate was lower than in the previous year, but the female rate was higher
  • the female rate had increased for the second successive year, but was still lower than in 2019/20
  • the male rate was at its lowest since 2013/14
  • the female rate continued to be lower than the male rate. However, the gap was at its lowest since the start of the time series almost 20 years ago
  • both the female and male North East rates weres highest among 35 to 49 year-olds
  • among the 16 to 24 and 25 to 34 age groups, the female employment rates in the North East were higher than the male equivalents. This was not the case in England excluding London
  • the largest net increases in North East employment in the latest year were among females aged 16 to 24 and among males aged 35 to 49
  • North East employment in most other age group categories decreased in the latest year.

About the employment rate

The rate measures the proportion of the working age population that are in employment.  The age group 16 to 64 is used to represent the working age group despite the state pension age being higher than 65. This is to ensure consistent time series of labour market statistics and to allow for international comparisons.

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