Andrew Davies AM welcomes further fall in unemployment numbers across Wales.

Numbers on unemployment benefit in Wales have now fallen to their lowest level for 33 years. Labour Market Statistics released by the ONS (Office of National Statistics) today show that the number of people on unemployment benefit is down by 3,700 since January 2007 to 38,500 – a fall of 8.8%. This is the lowest level since February 1975.

Andrew Davies AM said:

These figures show the remarkable resilience of the Welsh economy since devolution in 1999 with unemployment in Wales at 5.1% now slightly lower than the UK figure at 5.2% while the narrow count of unemployment based on benefit claimants at 2.7% in Wales remaining slightly higher than the UK rate of 2.5%.  

What is remarkable is that the numbers on unemployment benefit in Wales have now shrunk back to 38,500 when you remember that they reached as high as 170,000 in the mid-eighties and indeed averaged 122,000 during the 1979 to 1997 period.

back