The North East’s unemployment rate is more than three times worse than official figures suggest, new research claims.
A report from Centre for Cities reveals that there are more than 185,000 people across the region who are excluded from the Government’s joblessness statistics because they are classed as ‘economically inactive’. The Cities Outlook assessment lists the “hidden” unemployment rate in the North East in 2022 as in fact being 18%, compared to the 5.5% jobseeker rate, because the official figure only includes those who are actively looking for jobs – with the research institute warning that an “inactivity crisis is deepening the North-South divide”.
Under this analysis, nine of the 10 urban areas with the highest unemployment rate are in the North of England – with Newcastle ninth, Sunderland third, and Middlesbrough second. Of the ten urban areas with the lowest hidden unemployment rates, eight are in the South.
