Economic Situation and Employment: North East

(asked on 18th October 2017) - View Source

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the reasons for disparities in (a) employment, (b) unemployment, (c) average earnings and (d) economic growth in North East England.


Answered by
Steve Barclay Portrait
Steve Barclay
Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
This question was answered on 26th October 2017

The employment rate in the North East is near its record high at 72.2%; the unemployment rate is 5.8%; weekly earnings for an average full-time employee are £504; and nominal Gross Value Added (GVA) per head has grown 13.7% since 2010. The gap between the North East and the UK employment rate has narrowed over the past two years.

The government is addressing the barriers to economic growth in the North East and the rest of the Northern Powerhouse by investing in skills and infrastructure, developing our Industrial Strategy, and devolving more powers to local areas including the Tees Valley Combined Authority. This builds on the £379.6 million Local Growth Fund awarded to the North East since 2014.

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