Unemployment Up By 12,000 In The North East

14 October 2015, 09:30 | Updated: 30 March 2016, 13:50

Unemployment's gone up by 12,000 in the North East in the three months to August.

There were 109,000 people out of work here during that time.

But, those figures are down by 10,000 year on year.

Our region still has the highest rate of unemployment in the country, at 8.6% 

Nationally, unemployment fell by 79,000 to 1.7 million.

Paul Kenny, GMB general secretary, said: 
"The job losses at Redcar steel works and JCB are dark clouds on the horizon.

Employment growth is likely to slow as large cuts in public sector employment kick in and as lower-paid workers seek more hours to make up for the nearly £30 per week cuts they face in tax credits.''