Statistics

Labour market overview: May 2022

National Statistics

Monthly data on employment, unemployment and economic inactivity.

Headline labour market indicators, 3 months to March 2022

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.

Employment rate

The employment rate in the UK is generally higher than in Wales over the last 10 years.

Wales

The employment rate in Wales was 74.1%. This is down 0.4 percentage points on the quarter and up 0.2 percentage points on the year.

UK

The UK employment rate was 75.7%. This is up slightly on the quarter and up 0.9 percentage points on the year. This is the highest employment rate since April to June 2020 and the joint largest annual increase since May to July 2016.

Unemployment rate

The unemployment rate has decreased overall in both Wales and the UK over the last 10 years. The rate increased following the start of the coronavirus pandemic, but has been decreasing since the start of 2021.

Wales

The unemployment rate in Wales was 3.0%. This is down slightly on the quarter and down 1.4 percentage points on the year. This is the joint lowest unemployment rate since April to June 2020.

UK

The UK unemployment rate was 3.7%. This is down 0.3 percentage points on the quarter and down 1.2 percentage points on the year. This is the lowest unemployment rate since October to December 1974.

Economic inactivity rate

The economic inactivity rate has generally decreased in the UK over the last 10 years but has generally increased since the end of 2020. Whereas, the rate has fluctuated in Wales.

Wales

The economic inactivity rate in Wales was 23.6%. This is up 0.5 percentage points over the quarter and up 1.0 percentage points on the year.

UK

The UK economic inactivity rate was 21.4%. This is up slightly over the quarter and unchanged over 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 chart shows a generally upward trend of paid employees over the past few years and then a steep decrease from March 2020 until July 2020. Since the end of 2020, the number of paid employees has generally been increasing.

The number of paid employees has generally increased in recent years, but fell during the pandemic. The number of paid employees began increasing again at the end of 2020 and is now above the pre-pandemic level.

Early estimates for April 2022 indicate that the number of paid employees in Wales has increased by 7,900 (0.6%) over the month to 1.29 million. This is above the pre-pandemic estimates from February 2020, and an increase of 66,900 since the lowest point of the pandemic in November 2020.

Early estimates for April 2022 at a UK level showed a monthly increase of 120,700 (0.4%).

Other detailed breakdowns of paid employees including by local authority, by age and by sector are published by the Office for National Statistics.

Reports

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Alexandra Fitzpatrick

Telephone: 0300 025 9016

Rydym yn croesawu galwadau a gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg / We welcome calls and correspondence in Welsh.

Media

Telephone: 0300 025 8099

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