Unemployment rate falls sharply in Wales

The unemployment rate in Wales has fallen sharply - and is now the same as the UK average.

It stands at 60,000 or 3.8% of people over the age of 16.

This means there were 11,000 fewer people unemployed in Wales between March and May than between December and February.

But the proportion of people employed in Wales is still less than the average across the UK - 75.3% compared with 76%.

The unemployment rate in Wales had been higher than the UK average for the previous nine months and the gap between the two sets of figures had been widening.

However between March and May, Wales saw the greatest fall in unemployment of all the nations and regions of the UK with a 0.7% reduction in unemployment.

Compared with the same months a year earlier the Welsh rate of unemployment was down.

It has fallen 0.4 percentage points on the year and less than in the north west of England and other English regions like the West and East Midlands, Yorkshire, Humberside and the north east.

But it was higher than in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

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Altogether, there are more than 1.5 million people in work in Wales - with the figure remaining roughly the same for the last year.

Analysis from Sarah Dickins, BBC Wales economics correspondent

The fall in unemployment in Wales is clearly good news for the Welsh economy as it is for the individuals affected. But we must be cautious when comparing one set of figures with those three months earlier.

When you look at the performance of the rate of unemployment in Wales, the proportion of people over 16 who are not working, it is clear that Wales has behaved similarly to the UK as a whole.

The unemployment rate has fallen in both cases by 0.4% compared with March to May 2018 .

The more detailed figures related for the UK show some interesting trends appearing. Unemployment is lower amongst women than men at 3.6% and the lowest rate for women since records began in 1971. Also, more than half the increase in employment across the UK is amongst 50 to 64-year-olds.

Economy Minister Ken Skates said the figures showed Wales' labour market was performing strongly despite challenging conditions.

"As a government we are committed to listening to business and acting decisively to provide the type of support that will build confidence and trigger economic growth."

He said £18m for the Swansea City Deal, investment in the AMRC Cymru advanced manufacturing centre on Deeside and a new business park in St Athan were examples of positive interventions.

Welsh Secretary Alun Cairns said it was encouraging to see that UK government efforts to reduce unemployment were working.

"Through our industrial strategy and export strategy we are investing in skills, industries and infrastructure across the UK whilst working to maximise the exporting potential of Welsh companies," he said.