Labour market overview: June 2021

Monthly data on employment, unemployment and economic inactivity.

Headline labour market indicators, 3 months to April 2021

The headline labour market indicators estimated from the Labour Force Survey (LFS) 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.

LFS responses are weighted to official population projections. As the current projections are 2018-based they are based on demographic trends that pre-date the COVID-19 pandemic. Rates published from the LFS remain robust; however, levels and changes in levels should be used with caution. The Office for National Statistics have published a methodology paper outlining that they intend to re-weight the LFS using population estimates from PAYE real-time information. This will be applied to LFS results from July 2021.

Employment rate

Wales

The employment rate in Wales was 73.9%. This is 1.8 percentage points up on the quarter but decreased slightly over the year.

UK

The UK employment rate was 75.2%. This is 0.2 percentage points up on the quarter and 0.9 percentage points down on the year.

Unemployment rate

Wales

The unemployment rate in Wales was 4.3%. This is down by 0.2 percentage points over the quarter and up by 1.2 percentage points on the year.

UK

The UK unemployment rate was 4.7%. This is 0.3 percentage points down on the quarter and 0.7 percentage points up on the year.

Economic inactivity rate

Wales

The economic inactivity rate in Wales was 22.7%. This is 1.7 percentage points down on the quarter and 0.9 percentage points down on the year. This is one of the largest quarterly decreases since records began in 1992.

UK

The UK economic inactivity rate was 21.0%. This is unchanged on the quarter and 0.3 percentage points up on the year. This is the joint second largest annual increase since February to April 2010.

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 May 2021 indicate that the number of paid employees in Wales has increased by 11,300 (0.9%) over the month to 1.25 million. This is the largest monthly increase since the series began in 2014. This is an increase of 20,400 since the lowest point during the pandemic in November 2020 although remains below the February 2020 figure of 1.26 million.

Early estimates for May 2021 at a UK level also showed the largest monthly increase since the series began in 2014.

Reports