The proposed North East Mayoral Combined Authority has a population of 1,968,700. In May 2024, the North East Combined Authority will be formed and will bring together the current North of Tyne Combined Authority (Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, North Tyneside) and County Durham, Gateshead, South Tyneside, and Sunderland.

It has an employment rate of 70.4% and its unemployment rate (4.8%) is higher than the English average (3.7%) [ONS, 2023]. Economic inactivity is higher in the proposed North East Combined Authority (26%) than the rest of England (21.4%) [ONS, 2023].

Just under one in five (19.7%) workers in the proposed North East Combined Authority are in severely insecure work which is almost on par with the national average of 19.8%. Newcastle upon Tyne has the highest average weekly wages at £584, which is £46 below the national average.

There is some variation in the incidence of severely insecure work within the local authorities of the proposed North East Combined Authority. Sunderland has the highest proportion of workers in severely insecure work (23.9%). In County Durham, only 16.9% of workers are in severely insecure work and more than half (51%) are in secure work. South Tyneside has the lowest employment rate (62%) and highest inactivity rate (30.6%) in this region and is above the English average for severely insecure work at 20.2%.

Analysis shows that women, workers from ethnic minority backgrounds, and workers between the ages of 16 and 24 are most likely to be in severely insecure work in the Proposed North East Combined Authority.

Source: Work Foundation calculations of the Office for National Statistics Labour Force Survey; 2021- 2022.

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