Jobless rate remains steady in Wales

The unemployment rate in Wales has stayed at 4.4%, according to monthly Office for National Statistics figures.

This remains slightly higher than the UK unemployment rate of 4.2%.

When we look at figures over three months, there were 7,000 fewer people unemployed between February and April, compared to November and January.

The only part of the UK that had seen a greater drop in its jobless rate is North East England but that is higher at 4.6%.

The Wales jobless rate has fallen by 0.5% in the quarter to April compared to the previous three months and by 0.4% compared to the same period in 2017.

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Across the UK, unemployment fell by 38,000 on the quarter to 1.42m, the lowest figure since 1975. In Wales, the number unemployed is 67,000.

Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns pointed to figures which showed another 11,000 people had found work in Wales in the last quarter as a sign the jobs market was "continuing to strengthen".

"The indicators are moving steadily in the right direction and we have again narrowed the employment gap with the rest of the UK," he said.

"Welsh business now has the clarity it needs to plan for Brexit after Welsh Government backing for the Withdrawal Bill and we'll keep working to sustain this encouraging picture."