Number of Sunderland jobseekers rises as more people enter job market

New official labour market statistics show there were 5,630 people claiming out of work benefits, including Jobseeker’s Allowance and Universal Credit, in the city in November - a rise of 60 since October and up by 620 year-on-year.

Across the North East, the number of people in work rose by 33,000 over the year, to 1,207,000.

But the claimant count is also up by 4,400 to 52,300, as more people have entered the jobs market - the number of people classed as ‘economically inactive’ in the region dropped by 10,000 to 399,000 over the last year.

Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, Damian Green said: “There’s great news in the North East where the number of people in work has risen by 33,000 over the past year, to a near record 1.18 million people in work.”

Paul Carbert, policy adviser, North East England Chamber of Commerce said: “The employment statistics released this morning (14 December 2016) show little change on the previous three months, but steady progress has been made over the past year on increasing employment and reducing unemployment. The North East region saw the largest increase in the employment rate over the past year, and the largest fall in the unemployment rate. It is positive news that we end 2016 in a significantly better position than last year.

“There is more work to be done to match up skill levels in the workforce with the needs of employers, and the Chamber will be supporting members in 2017 to upskill and retrain experienced workers and open up opportunities for the unemployed. We need to have a working north east where everyone contributes to our economy.

Richard Baker, North East Local Enterprise Partnership head of strategy and policy, added: “Today’s statistics for the North East mirror those of the national economic picture, which suggest a slowing down in the UK labour market over the last quarter.

“Whilst the position remains much improved on the position a year ago, employment numbers are currently largely static overall. Unemployment has fallen again slightly, while the numbers of people economically inactive has increased.

“Within the employment figures for the region, one detail is that we are seeing an increase in the number of people in full-time work which is encouraging, with a drop off in the numbers of people in part-time and temporary work.”