Regional trends study gives snapshot of North East life
Jun 25 2009 by Paul Loraine, The Journal
Employment
The North East had the lowest employment rate in the country at 70.2%, with the national average more than 4% higher.
Around 72% of men in the North East are employed while just under 68% of women have a job.
The most wealthy areas of the region were also shown in the statistics.
The median weekly earnings in Tynedale in April 2008 was £564 while it was £484 in Chester-le-Street.
Education
Fewer GCSE students are achieving grades A*-C in the North East than anywhere else in the country.
A total of 36.5% of North East pupils achieve this standard across all the core subjects – English, Maths and Science. The national average is just over 40%.
Boys in the region come out worse than girls, with just under 34% of boys getting A*-C in all the core subjects and 39% of girls hitting the mark.
A higher proportion of people in the North East have no qualifications than anywhere else in the country, with the exception of the West Midlands.
Environment
The average rainfall in the North East over the years 1971-2000 was 455mm in the winter and 376mm in the summer.
The last five summers have been considerably wetter in the region, last year’s being the wettest at 624mm.
People in the North East recycled 26% of their household waste in 2006-2007, while the figure in other parts of the country was as high as 38%.
There was good news for bird enthusiasts as the number of wild birds in the region’s woodland rose by 14% between 1994 and 2007.
Population
The population of the North East was the lowest of the English regions and growing at the slowest rate. It also had the highest proportion of people of White British ethnic origin.
Asians make up around 2% of the population and only 0.5% are black, British or otherwise.
While 39,000 people left the North East for another region in 2007, about the same number arrived in the area.
In terms of international migration, 18,000 people arrived in the region in 2007 while 10,000 left for different shores.
