Member Article

North East unemployment rises by 4,000 over year

Unemployment in the North East has risen by just under 4,000 over the last year to August, and nearly 8,000 more women in the region are out of work.

According to the latest data from the Office for National Statistics, North East unemployment stands at 133,000 or 10.3%, compared to the national rate of 7.7%.

While there were increases across the year, the unemployed count fell 1,556 on the quarter.

Youth unemployment in the region presented a more positive picture as the number of 18-24 year-olds out of work fell by 5,048.

NECC director of Policy, Ross Smith, said: “This is another mixed set of figures for the North East, but with some. Unemployment is down on the quarter, but slightly up on the year. The slowing of the employment rate is somewhat concerning after positives in last month’s figures, but we have seen fluctuations throughout 2013.

“One positive trend that has continued throughout the year has been the falling claimant count, which is once again down and now stands at their lowest levels for two years, which is great news.

“These estimates are also at odds with NECC’s own Quarterly Economic Survey, which demonstrates that our members are investing more in their businesses and recruitment of staff.

“However, with unemployment still above 10%, it remains deeply concerning the number of members who experience difficulty finding suitably skilled staff. There remains an urgent need to address this in order to bring the jobless figures down faster.”

Nationally, the number of unemployed in the UK fell by 18,000 to 2.49 million in the June-August period and the number claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance fell by 41,700 to 1.35 million.

The Institute of Directors’ Graeme Leach, said the figures represented a “job-lite recovery.”

He said: “Today’s labour market figures are not surprising. Just as employment losses during the recession were lower than expected, so too are employment gains with recovery. This isn’t a jobless recovery but it is a job-lite one.

“Over the course of the next year we expect the picture to improve as higher output stimulates higher productivity and a subsequent pick-up in both employment and wage growth.”

Neil Carberry, the CBI’s director of Employment and Skills, added: “Today’s figures suggest that the more positive economic outlook is beginning to flow through to the jobs market. However, overall unemployment remains high.

“It is really encouraging that today’s increase in employment is almost entirely driven by a rise in full-time work and that long-term unemployment has begun to drop.

“However, it is clear that pay restraint is underpinning employment growth so we must ensure that minimum wage policy continues to reflect the wider labour market to ensure people aren’t priced out of opportunities to work.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .