Wales' unemployment rate steady, job vacancies 'sky high'

Demand for workers remains very high in the retail and hospitality sectors

The number of people who are unemployed in Wales has remained steady, according to the latest monthly data.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said 45,000 were out of work in the three months to the end of March.

Wales has an unemployment rate of 3%, remaining slightly lower than the UK average of 3.7%.

Compared with a year ago, unemployment has fallen by 23,000 and across the UK the number of job vacancies has risen to a new record of almost 1.3 million.

The ONS said that, for the first time since records began, there are now fewer unemployed people than job vacancies.

Cardiff-based recruitment company Yolk said demand for staff had pushed up salaries in professional services.

"Growing caution around economic uncertainty means job movers are seeking higher rewards to move jobs," said Pavan Arora, Yolk Recruitment's chief commercial officer.

Pavan Arora of Yolk Recruitment says wage inflation will not be able to keep pace with other price rises

He added that "demand remains sky high" for staff in sectors such as hospitality and retail, but other areas of the economy were also seeing wage inflation as companies tried to attract workers.

"Across the IT sector, for instance, we have seen salaries for software engineers in south west Wales rise by over 19% this year alone," Mr Arora said.

ANALYSIS by Huw Thomas, BBC Wales business correspondent

The unemployment rate in Wales cannot get much lower, and yet there are still sectors of the economy struggling to find staff.

While wage increases have been reported in many areas, few pay raises can match the soaring rate of inflation.

It means those in work are having to stretch their salaries further in order to keep up with the cost of living.

Companies who are struggling to recruit also face a dilemma about whether to offer higher wages to attract and retain staff, while they're also seeing their costs increase in other areas.