Annual Population Survey: April 2018 to March 2019

Employment

• The employment rate for the population aged 16 to 64 in Wales was 73.1% compared with 75.2% in the UK.
• Since 2001, the employment rate increased by 6.0 percentage points in Wales and by 3.0 percentage points in the UK.
• The local authorities with the highest estimated employment rates were Vale of Glamorgan (80.4%), Monmouthshire (77.7%) and Wrexham (77.3%). The lowest rates were in Swansea (67.3%), Caerphilly (68.4%) and Ceredigion (69.0%).

Unemployment

• The unemployment rate for the population aged 16 and over in Wales was 4.5%, compared with 4.1% in the UK.
• Since 2001, the unemployment rates in Wales and the UK both fell by 0.9 percentage points.
• The local authorities with the lowest estimated unemployment rates were Monmouthshire (2.1%), Powys (2.1%) and Denbighshire (2.2%). The highest rates were in Rhondda Cynon Taf (7.2%), Caerphilly (6.9%) and Swansea (6.7%).

Youth unemployment

• The youth unemployment rate in Wales was 14.2%, above the UK rate of 11.5%.
• The youth unemployment rate was the same as it was in 2001, though it has been changeable over that period. For the UK as a whole it was 0.3 percentage points lower in the latest year than it was in 2001.

Long term unemployment

• 27.3% of unemployed people in Wales had been unemployed for 12 months or more. This compares with 25.4% in the UK.

Economic inactivity

• The economic inactivity rate for the population aged 16 to 64 in Wales was 23.3% compared with 21.5% in the UK.
• The inactivity rate in Wales was 5.7 percentage points lower in the latest year than it was in 2001. For the UK as a whole it was 2.4 percentage points lower than in 2001.
• The local authorities with the lowest estimated economic inactivity rates were Vale of Glamorgan (16.6%), Wrexham (18.8%) and Isle of Anglesey (19.3%). The highest rates were in Ceredigion (29.3%), Swansea (27.6%) and Blaenau Gwent (26.5%).