Overall the number of households where no adults work is now 15.9% – down 1.4 percentage points in the past 12 months. More than half (55.3%) of UK households now have all adults working. This is a year-on-year increase of 1.5 percentage points
But there is a disparity of almost 10 percentage points between the best and worst regions. In the South-East 12.3% of households have no income through work, compared to 21.2% in the North-East.
Lancaster University's The Work Foundation director Geraint Johnes welcomed the overall figures but expressed concern over the geographical variations.
“As with other labour market statistics in recent months, the headline figures indicate a favourable trajectory," he said. "However, regional disparities are sharp."
He added: "Some of this is due to demographic differences, with the South-East having a younger population – though the data refers only to households in the Labour Force Survey with at least one person aged between 16 and 64."
Adzuna co-founder Andrew Hunter added that the picture is "somewhat bleak" for those job hunting in the North-East.
"Areas like Sunderland are still in the first throes of recovery," he said. "There are still 11 jobseekers searching for every available role in the city. In some cities, like Cambridge, vacancies outnumber jobseekers."
