Key economic statistics: January 2021

Monthly data which covers topics such as employment, indices, exports and earnings.

Headline labour market indicators, 3 months to November 2020

The headline labour market indicators estimated from the Labour Force Survey provide an indication of how the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is affecting the labour market. Other data sources, such as the number of paid employees presented later in this headline, can also be used to produce a more complete picture.

Employment rate

Wales: The employment rate in Wales was 72.4%. This is 0.2 percentage points down on the quarter and 2.4 percentage points down on the year. This is the second largest annual decrease since the series began in 1992. The largest decrease on record was during the great recession which started in 2008. The employment rate decreased 2.7 percentage points in June to August 2009.

UK: The UK employment rate was 75.2%. This is 0.4 percentage points down on the quarter and 1.1 percentage points down on the year. This is the largest annual decrease in the employment rate since February to April 2010.

Unemployment rate

Wales: The unemployment rate in Wales was 4.6%. This is 0.8 percentage points up on the quarter and 1.6 percentage points up on the year. This is the largest annual increase in the unemployment rate since July to September 2011.

UK: The UK unemployment rate was 5.0%. This is 0.6 percentage points up on the quarter and 1.2 percentage points up on the year. This is the largest annual increase in the unemployment rate since October to December 2009.

Economic inactivity rate

Wales: The economic inactivity rate in Wales was 24.0%. This is 0.4 percentage points down on the quarter and 1.3 percentage points up on the year.

UK: The UK economic inactivity rate was 20.7%. This is 0.1 percentage points down on the quarter and 0.2 percentage points up on the year.

Monthly paid employees and earnings from Pay As You Earn Real Time Information

The Office for National Statistics and HM Revenue & Customs publish data for Wales on payrolled employees, mean pay, aggregate pay and single month estimates for median pay.

Paid Employees

The number of paid employees has generally increased in recent years, but has fallen during the pandemic. Early estimates for December 2020 indicate that the number of paid employees in Wales was 1.23 million. This was a decrease of 30,300 (2.4%) on February 2020, but a slight increase of 3,000 (0.2%) compared with the lowest point in November 2020.

Reports