Claimant Count: Experimental Office for National Statistics: Since June 2015 the Claimant Count has been designated as experimental statistics and has included out of work Universal Credit claimants as well as Jobseeker’s Allowance claimants. These data are not an official measure of local unemployment and further information is available in the ‘Notes’ section below. Rates are calculated using the relevant ONS population estimates for that age group.
Interactive Maps
Sub-county data can be viewed using these web maps:
Key Messages:
Current Working Age (16 to 64 population): 3.2% (March 2024) (NE: 4%; England: 3.9%)
Current Young People (18 to 24 population): 4.6% (March 2024) (NE: 5.9%; England: 5.2%)
The claimant count rate in County Durham, for the 16 to 64 population, was:
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- 3.2% of the working age population were claiming out of work benefits in March 2024, the same as last month but is still below the April 2020 figure (6%).
- There were 10,475 people aged 16 to 64 claiming these benefits in County Durham in March 2024.
- This is lower than the national rate of 3.9%, and the North East rate of 4%.
- County Durham currently has the second lowest rate in the region with Middlesbrough highest at 5.9%.
The claimant count rate in County Durham, for young people (aged 18 to 24), was:
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- 4.6% of the 18 to 24 population were claiming out of work benefits in March 2024, slightly higher than last month’s 4.7%, but lower than that recorded in April 2020 (8.6%).
- There were 2,330 young people claiming these benefits in County Durham in March 2024.
- This was below the national rate of 5.2% and lower than the North East rate of 5.9%.
- County Durham currently has the second lowest rate in the region with South Tyneside the highest at 9.9% and Newcastle-upon-Tyne lowest at 2.9%.
The following dashboard summarises the latest release of this data.
Notes
This measures the number of people claiming benefit principally for the reason of being unemployed:
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- from April 2015, the Claimant Count includes all Universal Credit claimants who are required to seek work and be available for work, as well as all JSA claimants
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- County Durham,
- North East Local Authorities
- Electoral Wards
- Area Action partnerships (AAPs)
- Local Plan Monitoring Areas (LPMAs)