Unemployment in County Durham

Since the early 1980s, we have collected computerised records of the monthly unemployment count down to a ward level across the whole of County Durham. This information is based on a count of residents - who at the time were receiving unemployment benefit in its various forms - by both their age and the length of time that they had been unemployed. These data are supplied each month by Central Government through the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The data is available in two basic forms: a monthly summary sheet giving the unemployment counts for each local authority area and parliamentary constituency in the North East and the corresponding official unemployment rates; and a monthly count of unemployment by gender for each of the 135 wards in County Durham that were in effect on Census day in 2001, plus ward unemployment rates by gender calculated by the County Council from these data.

When using these data it is important to read the notes supplied; for the Office for National Statistics has applied several changes to the data over the years that could alter the conclusions drawn from this information over time e.g. the change from a workforce to a residence based unemployment rate in January 2003 which particularly affects the rates.

Reports

This data is combined into monthy reports which are available on the Monthly Unemployment in County Durham page which provides both the monthly report and the local authority data as a table.

Interactive Reports

To further enhance this information an interactive report has been created using an application called InstantAtlas combining ward based unemployment data from April 2006 to December 2007 along with the claimant counts for Incapacity benefit/Severe Disability Allowance and Job Seekers Allowance. This report and others are available on the InstantAtlas Interactive Reports page.

If you have any queries regarding this information please contact:

Email: Corporate Research and Information team.

Tel: 0191 3834340

Other relevant information: Labour Market Report 2005