Welsh Secretary responds to Labour Market Statistics
David Jones: “Welsh economy showing continued recovery”
Labour Market Statistics
This Government’s long term economic plan is working for the people of Wales, Welsh Secretary, David Jones said today, as official figures reveal a further increase in employment levels in Wales.
The latest employment figures published by the Office for National Statistics today (19 March 2014) have revealed that 1,000 more people are now in work over the last quarter.
Wales has also seen the largest fall in the rate of unemployment of all UK nations and regions over the last quarter - and the last year as a whole - falling to 6.7 per cent in comparison to the UK figure of 7.2 per cent.
Unemployment in Wales has fallen by 12,000 over the last quarter, and the number of people claiming Job Seeker’s Allowance has also decreased by 1,400 over the last month.
The figures also showed a slight increase in youth unemployment levels over the last month. However, over the year as a whole, youth unemployment in Wales has decreased by 5,300.
Secretary of State for Wales, David Jones said:
These figures once again demonstrate that we are continuing to see encouraging signs of growth and recovery in Wales. Under this Government, the number of people in work in Wales has exceeded 1.38million for the first time in our history.
But to abandon our long term plan would be to abandon the progress we’ve made. Creating jobs and getting people into employment are central to building a stronger, more competitive economy.
However, the fact that we have seen a small increase in the levels of youth unemployment shows that the job is not yet done.
Next month, I will host the third in the series of Wales Office Jobs Summits which will once again focus on promoting youth employment opportunities in the SME sector.
The Government is firmly committed to ensuring that people of working age in Wales have the opportunity to engage in the labour market in order to advance their career prospects, reduce the risk of long term unemployment and welfare dependency, and encourage social mobility and further economic growth.