Unemployment Down By 6,000 In The North East

15 October 2014, 09:42 | Updated: 15 October 2014, 09:45

Unemployment in the North East has fallen by 6,000 in the three months between June and August.

There were 119,000 people without a job in the North East compared to the previous 3 months.

That's down by 6,000 year on year.

New figures out this morning show our region has the highest rate of unemployment with 9.3% of people here out of work.

The stats also show more women (62.000) than men (57,000) don't have a job in the North East.

Nationally, the latest unemployment figures show the jobless total has fallen below the two million mark for the first time since 2008.

It now stands at 1.97 million.

The number of people claiming jobseeker's allowance last month also fell by 18,600, according to the Office for National Statistics.

Average earnings increased by 0.7% in the year to August.