Employment Rate

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Employment Rate

Estimates of employment rates are taken from the Annual Population Survey (APS) data produced by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) which is available down to the local authority level, (data is available for Parliamentary Constituencies.

Note: This dashboard now contains the Parliamentary Constituencies applicable from May 2024.

To view the dashboard below in full screen, click on the double headed arrow dots in the bottom right corner of the dashboard.  Key messages in this dashboard are also below the dashboard.

Key Messages:

Current figure: 72.4% (236,000 people aged 16 to 64) (October 2024 to September 2025) (NECA: 70.3%; NE: 70.3%; Eng: 75.8%)

  • The latest figures (October 2024 to September 2025) estimated that 70.9% (230,400 people) of the county’s 16 to 64 population were employed,
    • To achieve national levels of employment in County Durham, an additional 11,100 people of working age in County Durham would need to enter employment.  This gap could be reduced if some of those people currently economically inactive and wanting a job (13,600 people) were to enter employment,
  • The employment rate in County Durham for those with an Equality Act (EA) core or work limiting disability was 55.6%, much lower than the rate for those without a disability (82.4%),
  • Male employment levels estimated to be 72.5%, similar to female employment levels of 72.3%,
  • Employment rates in the 16 to 24 age group was low at 50.5%. (NECA: 47.6%; NE: 47.8%; Eng: 51%),
  • The 25 to 49 age group has the highest employment rate of 80.8%. (NECA: 80.7%; NE: 80.7%; Eng: 85.3%),
  • Currently 25.5% of employed residents were estimated to work in the public sector in the county, (NECA: 26.5%; NE: 26%; Eng: 22.9%), indicating a higher reliance on this sector for employment in the county and region, compared to nationally,
  • Currently 74.5% of employed residents in the county work in the private sector, (NECA: 73.5%; NE: 74%; Eng: 77.1%),
  • Currently estimates indicate that people in County Durham are mainly employed in the Manufacturing (10.4%), ‘Distribution, hotels and restaurants’ (16.8%), Banking, finance and insurance, real estate services (16.4%) and the ‘Public admin, education and health’ (36.4%) industries, indicating greater reliance by the residents within the county on these industries for employment.

Links to Data:

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