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North East LEP ONS Regional Labour Market Statistics Reaction

North East Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Senior Economist Victoria Sutherland gave her reaction to today’s regional labour market statistics.

“We are pleased that today’s release shows that the numbers of people in the North East that are unemployed has fallen, with 17,000 fewer unemployed than a year ago,” she said.

“We are disappointed to see that the numbers employed in the North East region has also fallen. Until additional data comes through, it will be unclear whether this is a temporary fluctuation.

“With both unemployment and employment falling, we’ve seen growth in the number of people that are not actively participating in the labour market – a group known as the economically inactive.

“The most recent data on the economically inactive suggest there has been particularly strong growth over the last year in the number of people that are inactive because they are studying, which we would consider a positive trend.

“We will continue to monitor conditions in the labour market closely.

“The ambition of the North East Strategic Economic Plan is to deliver ‘more and better jobs’ for the region, creating opportunities for those living and working in the region. We will continue to work with our partners to deliver this ambition.”

ENDS