Summary

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.

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: 74.5% (242,700 people aged 16 to 64) (January 2023 to December 2023)

  • The latest figures (January 2023 to December 2023) estimated that 74.5% (242,700 people) of the county’s 16 to 64 population are employed. This is higher than the regional level (72.8%) but both are lower than national levels (76%),
    • To achieve national levels of employment in County Durham, an additional 4,900 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 (14,800 people) were to enter employment,
  • The employment rate in County Durham for those with an Equality Act (EA) core or work limiting disability is 48.8%, much lower than the rate for those without a disability (84.7%),
  • ONS estimate that around one third of people in employment work in key worker occupations (33.1%/76,000 people, Jan 2019 to Dec 2019), Office for national Statistics,
  • Male employment levels estimated to be 79.1%, higher than female employment levels of 69.9%,
  • The 25 to 49 age group has the highest employment rate of 85.4%. This is higher than the region (82.8%) but slightly lower than the national average of 85.6%,
  • Employment rates in the 16 to 24 age group was low at 64% in the county which is higher than the regional average of 56.5%, and the national average of 53.5%,
  • Currently 24% of employed residents were estimated to work in the public sector in the county, lower than the regional average of 29.5%, while the nationally the average was 22.8%, indicating a higher reliance on this sector for employment in the county compared to nationally,
  • Currently 76% of employed residents in the county work in the private sector, higher than the regional average of 70.5%,  while the nationally the average was 77.2%,
  • Currently estimates indicate that people in County Durham are mainly employed in the Manufacturing (14.2%), ‘Distribution, hotels and restaurants’ (22.3%), Banking, finance and insurance, real estate services (11.5%) and the ‘Public admin, education and health’ (30%) industries, indicating greater reliance by the residents within the county on these industries for employment.

Links to Data:

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