Unemployment in the North East has stayed unchanged but the region has regained its unwanted record of having the highest rate of joblessness in the UK.
New figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show the region’s unemployment rate between September and November last year was 4.7%, the same as figures released last month. That figure was a rise on two previous record lows, but still historically low for the region.
The fall in unemployment at the end of last year had seen the West Midlands become the region with the UK’s highest unemployment, but that situation has now reversed and the North East is at the bottom of the jobs table. There was some positive news for the region, though, as the rate of people classed as being ‘economically inactive’ fell slightly to 24.6%.
