Unemployment rise in Wales concerning - Vaughan Gething

Wales' Economy Minister Vaughan Gething says there is concern if the figures are a "genuine trend"

Figures showing Wales has seen the largest increase in unemployment in the UK since last year is a "real concern", the economy minister has said.

Estimates from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said unemployment in Wales was 4.8% between February and April, the joint-highest across the UK.

This figure was 1.3 percentage points higher than the same time in 2022.

Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said there was concern over whether the data showed a "blip" or a "genuine trend".

The 4.8% unemployment figure also showed a rise of 0.2 percentage points from last month's figures, although the ONS advises against comparing these numbers due to the overlap of data.

The UK's overall unemployment rate stands at 3.8%, the same as it was a year ago.

It means Wales has gone from having a below average unemployment rate to the joint highest in the UK in the space of a year.

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Mr Gething told a press conference: "We're concerned about whether this is a blip or the start of a genuine trend."

"There does appear to have been a loss of employment," he added, with figures showing the number of people in work had dropped by 2.2 percentage points, with 71.8% of people in work - equating to 11,000 lost jobs between December and March.

Wales also saw the largest increase in the rate of economic inactivity rate compared with the same period last year.

This figure of 24.4% is up 1.1 percentage points on a year ago, although this was 0.6 percentage points lower than the previous quarter.

"There is a genuine and continuing challenge with economic inactivity is a real concern for us," Mr Gething said.

But on PAYE tax data, which covers people who are employed rather than self-employed, Mr Gething said, "we're actually seeing growth".

Average monthly pay in Wales rose to £2,120, a 7.8% rise on a year ago and slightly more than the rise in the UK as a whole, which was 7%.

People working in Ceredigion have seen the biggest pay rise in the past year but Monmouthshire and Vale of Glamorgan saw the highest median average rate of pay.

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Conservatives called the figures "disappointing" when compared with figures across the UK.

"Labour-run Wales is continuing to fall behind in terms of employment and continues to see rising unemployment, bucking the trend in the wrong way," said Paul Davies, the Conservative economy spokesperson in the Senedd.

"The Labour government have run Wales for 25 years, holding the economic levers and despite the fact Wales plummeted last month to the lowest employment in the UK, the situation is worsening further still with Wales haemorrhaging jobs despite positive economic headwinds," he added.

Plaid Cymru economy spokesperson Luke Fletcher accused the Welsh government of presiding over "managed decline."

"Right now, the steel industry is facing a cliff edge, and there have been too many reports of factories closing their doors all across Wales," he said. "If Welsh government doesn't have the power to be able to step in and work with these businesses find a viable way forward, then they need to demand the economic levers from Westminster."

The ONS said data published in August would give a clearer picture of whether the unemployment increase has been sustained or was a "statistical blip".