New jobs figures today show the unemployment rate in the North East is at a record low, standing at 4.8%. This is the first time the rate has dropped below 5% since records began, according to the Office for National Statistics.
The region’s unemployment count stood at 63,000, down 40,000 on the year and down 89,000 since its peak in September 2011.
The number of women in work also reached a new record high of 71% at 601,000 – up 28,000 on the year.
The number of men in work is at its highest rate since March 2007 at 75.6%.
The number of people classed as economically inactive, including students, those on long-term sick leave, taken early retirement or who have given up looking for work, fell by 26,000 to 375,000 over the last year, giving a rate of 22.8 per cent, a joint record low.
Commenting on today’s figures, Conservative MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland MP, Simon Clarke, said:
“Our region is on the rise, and it’s fantastic that a record number of people are in work. This doesn’t happen by accident – it’s down to the hard work of amazing employers, and it’s down to this Government creating the conditions for those employers to grow and recruit more staff.
“This news comes on the back of yesterday’s ONS report showing that wages are back rising above inflation. This is a great time for Teesside and we’re only getting started.”
Conservative Mayor of the Tees Valley, Ben Houchen, added:
“This is a turning point for the North East. More jobs mean more people given the security of a pay packet at the end each month so they can provide for themselves and their families.”
“It’s our businesses that are the engine of our economy. They’re quietly investing, growing, training and exporting, creating better, higher-paying jobs for everyone.”
“My priority in the Tees Valley is to do all I can to support economic growth and job creation, and today’s figures show the Government’s plan is working to create that competitive, low welfare economy we all need.”