Unemployment up, vacancies down but green shoots on employment

Josh Maratty, policy adviser at the North East Chamber of Commerce, said:

“The ONS employment figures released today (21 July 2026) show that between March and May 2026, the unemployment rate in the North East for people aged 16 and over was 5.7% (compared to 5.4% last month) - now 0.8% higher than the UK average.

Unemployment creeping higher again underlines the North East as one of the weaker-performing regional labour markets in this month's ONS release.

Economic inactivity among those aged 16 to 64 was 24.6%, an improvement of 0.5% compared with the previous month. The rate is 3.7% higher than the UK average and means around one in four working-age adults in the North East remains economically inactive.

The employment rate for those aged 16 to 64 rose to 71.5% from 71.1% the previous month, which is now 3.6% lower than the UK average.

UK job vacancies continued to fall in early summer 2026. Estimates for April - June 2026 show vacancies dropped by 7,000 (0.9%) to 712,000, compared to the previous quarter. Year-on-year, total vacancies were down 18,000 (2.5%).

The North East Chamber of Commerce has called upon new Prime Minister Andy Burnham to commit to practical actions to unlock the full potential of the North East and help build a stronger, fairer and more competitive United Kingdom.

Working alongside North East Mayor Kim McGuinness and Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, we have shown how business and devolved leaders can work together to unlock investment and deliver better outcomes for our communities.  

We encourage the new government to build on this approach by giving mayoral combined authorities the long-term funding certainty and flexibility they need to drive investment, improve productivity and support good growth across every region.

Last week, the North East Chamber of Commerce held a roundtable in partnership with the British Chambers of Commerce and the 2030 Prosperity Alliance, working alongside chambers across the country. The Chamber assembled a diverse group of SMEs to help identify what is currently holding businesses back from investing, hiring and growing, among other topics; a session that reflected the Chamber's ongoing commitment to unlocking the North East economy and supporting local business."

Notes 

• Official statistics under review published by the ONS suggest that between March and May 2026, the unemployment rate in the UK for ages 16-64 was 4.9%. In the North East, this was higher at 5.7%.
• The UK’s employment rate for ages 16–64 was 75.1%. In the North East, this was lower, at 71.5%.
• The UK’s economic inactivity rate for ages 16–64 was 20.9%. In the North East, this was higher at 24.6%.
• Vacancies - a significant proportion of roles are never formally advertised, filled instead through networking, internal promotions, or direct approaches and a single job listing can often represent multiple positions. The true number of opportunities available to job seekers is therefore likely to be higher than the statistics alone suggest.
• The ONS continues to use experimental data following issues with data collection, which made employment figures unavailable for a period. For more details on the ONS’ switch from experimental data to official statistics under review, please click here.