Darlington MP Peter Gibson has welcomed the latest employment figures for the North East.
Data recently published by the Office of National Statistics, estimates that the UK employment rate was at 76.0% in February to April 2023, 0.2 percentage points higher than November 2022 to January 2023.
The number of people in employment increased to a record high in the latest quarter, with increases in both the number of employees and self-employed workers.
In Darlington there were 385 fewer claimants last month than there were in March 2020, before the coronavirus pandemic affected the claimant count.
Estimated data also shows a monthly increase of payroll employees, up 23,000 on the revised April 2023 figures, to 30.0 million.
The North East saw the largest increase in the employment rate compared with the same period last year, increasing by 3.1 percentage points.
Figure also show that this is the firth month-on-month fall in economic inactivity and highlights for the North East indicate:
• Largest increase in employment rate
• Largest decrease in unemployment rate
• Largest decrease in economic inactivity
Peter Gibson MP said “The government is committed to creating more job opportunities, and with investments such as the £139 million secured for the Bank Top Station transformation, £35 million Railway Heritage Quarter upgrades, and Darlington Economic Campus jobs will only help to continue this trend.
“I am pleased to see the North East increase its employment rate, as a town and as a region we are making progress.
“The Government is committed to delivering for the North East, and this news unpins the commitment to growing our economy”.
Peter Gibson’s Apprenticeships and Training Fair is due to take place later this year, where dozens of employers and organisations will again gather at Darlington College for a third year running.
The free event will be held between 10am-3pm on Friday 15th September 2023.
