Private section job creation in the North-East went up between September and October but down in the rest of the UK, according to the Lloyds TSB North East Purchasing Managers Index (PMI).

The UK-wide PMI for employment dropped from 50.1 to 49.7 between September and October, indicating that overall growth of employment had turned into moderate job shrinkage between the two months.

However in the North-East there has been no recession in overall employment since early 2010, and the 50.8 employment PMI for September improved to 51.8 in October.

According to the report, both manufacturers and services providers hired extra personnel in the North-East.

The North East was one of seven regions of the UK to record a rise in private sector staff levels in the three months to October, with the West Midlands the fastest-growing, followed by the East Midlands, the East and then the North-East.