00:00New labour market figures show that the North East's employment rate for 16 to 64-year-olds stood at 68.3% between May and July this year, which is the lowest of all nine English regions, and well below the UK average of 75.2%.
00:15While there has been a modest annual increase of 2,000 in overall employment compared to the same period in 2024, that growth has been concentrated among the over 65s.
00:26For the co-working age population, the employment rate actually fell by 0.8 percentage points, booking the national trend which saw an increase of 0.5%.
00:36The data also points to continuing challenges in the labour market. The number of payrolled employees fell by 2,700 between August 2024 and 2025, with the biggest losses in the North East Combined Authority area, where employment dropped by 1,900.
00:52However, workforce jobs, which include people holding more than one job, rose by 25,000 between June 2024 and June 2025, suggesting that while some sectors are adding positions, many may be part-time or temporary roles.
01:07But we asked people directly what the reality of getting a job in the North East is like.
01:14Yeah, I think it's quite hard to find local part-time work because there's just not enough jobs and there's so many people.
01:22I'm a student, so it's quite hard to get a job as a student because people have looked into it more and probably availability issues and stuff like that.
01:29Yeah, it is quite hard.
01:30There's a lot of construction, houses and things and people and that.
01:35We don't know anybody who's unemployed, do we?
01:39No, everyone, all our neighbours have got jobs.
01:41A lot work in Leeds, you take the training.
01:44Against this backdrop, the North East is positioning itself for a major economic shift.
01:49Plans have been announced to create one of Europe's largest data centre hubs in the region.
01:53Building on existing sites at Cobalt Park in North Tyneside and the QTS Camas Data Centre Campus in Blythe.
02:02This new AI growth zone is expected to create over 5,000 new jobs, spanning construction, data engineering, AI, research, development and safety.
02:13The initiative aims to drive local productivity in key industries, including manufacturing, healthcare, energy and finance by helping businesses adopt AI technologies and compete on the global stage.
02:26Crucially, the scheme includes partnerships with local universities to train a new generation of AI specialists and develop training and apprenticeship routes to ensure local people can access opportunities.
02:36Secondly, the Port of Tyneside development is set to bring a further 1,500 jobs to the region.
02:43This major infrastructure project will support logistics, renewable energy and offshore industries, strengthening the port's role as a key gateway for trade and green innovation.
02:53Together, the AI growth zone and Port of Tynes schemes could deliver a significant boost to local employment.
02:59We are in groups to private entender parts of local government.
03:02How did we take that gap in North Tyneside ?
03:05Next is, presently, 218-922-11932-359-5EEPS.
03:09This project, 71-5000-786-275-2020, is 1,500-720-8395-745.
03:15Omaha tellement-632- birli- vendorsĆ£o-11932-770-636ļæ½ļæ½ģ form a sector correspondent.
03:20We will need to learn more about thousand dollars more ŃŠ¾Š±ŃŃŠ²ŠµŠ½ topics than arm takes, and the amount of equipment.
03:23The AI-566-4366-361-8236-800-8353-Here doet.
03:26This project is, based-of- Shaw sofort, U hine, around ė¹ģ·, 2,000-933-8-470-,7-435-3804.
Comments