Rise in city claimant total
The number of people claiming out of work benefits rose slightly in Sunderland last month.
There were 5,870 claimants in the city in July, a rise of 35 on June and up by 265 over the year.
Debbie Draper, from JobCentre Plus, said: “We have got a lot of jobs in the contact centre sector. We have got quite a few opportunities with Parseq.
“And we are working with Go North East, who are recruiting bus drivers, and Nissan, so there is quite a wide range of jobs going at the moment.
“We still have quite a few vacancies for manufacturing and warehousing jobs.
“And there will be opportunities coming through in the coming weeks and months relating to the Christmas period.”
Across the North East, employment fell by 37,000 over the quarter and 28,000 over the year.
But with more people classed as economically inactive, unemployment was also down to 54,000, a fall of 10,000 over the quarter and 24,000 over the year.
North East England Chamber of Commerce policy adviser Paul Carbert said: “Unfortunately for the second quarter in a row, the number of people in employment has fallen and the employment rate has fallen below the record high at the beginning of the year.”
“The number of people classified as economically inactive in the North East has increased by 46,000 over the past year.
“There can be many reasons for this, but it highlights the need to promote flexible working opportunities and ensure that anyone who does want a job can access the training and skills that businesses are looking for.”