Monthly data on employment, unemployment and economic inactivity.
This is not the latest release in the series: Labour market overview
Headline labour market indicators, 3 months to May 2023
This headline provides a summary of the latest key statistics relating to the Welsh labour market, and includes data from the Labour Force Survey and experimental statistics from HMRC’s Pay As You Earn Real Time Information.
Employment rate
Figure 1: Employment rate, 3 months to May 2013 to the 3 months to May 2023
Description of Figure 1: Line chart showing the employment rate in the UK has generally been higher than in Wales over the last 10 years.
Source: Welsh Government analysis of Labour Force Survey
Wales
The employment rate in Wales was 71.9%. This is down 0.5 percentage points on the quarter and down 1.8 percentage points on the year.
UK
The UK employment rate was 76.0%. This is up 0.2 percentage points on the quarter and up slightly on the year.
Unemployment rate
Figure 2: Unemployment rate, 3 months to May 2013 to the 3 months to May 2023
Description of Figure 2: Line chart showing the unemployment rate has decreased overall in both Wales and the UK over the last 10 years.
Source: Welsh Government analysis of Labour Force Survey
Wales
The unemployment rate in Wales was 5.0%. This is up 1.5 percentage points on the quarter and up 1.2 percentage points on the year.
UK
The UK unemployment rate was 4.0%. This is up 0.2 percentage points on the quarter and up 0.2 percentage points on the year.
Economic inactivity rate
Figure 3: Economic inactivity rate, 3 months to May 2013 to the 3 months to May 2023
Description of Figure 3: Line chart showing the economic inactivity rate has generally decreased in the UK over the last 10 years but has seen an overall increase since early 2020. In Wales, the rate has fluctuated over this time but generally remains above the UK rate.
Source: Welsh Government analysis of Labour Force Survey
Wales
The economic inactivity rate in Wales was 24.2%. This is down 0.6 percentage points on the quarter but up 0.8 percentage points on the year.
UK
The UK economic inactivity rate was 20.8%. This is down 0.4 percentage points on the quarter and down 0.3 percentage points on 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
Figure 4: Payrolled Employees, Wales, June 2018 to June 2023
Description of Figure 4: A line chart showing the trend in the number of paid employees over the past few years has been generally increasing despite a steep decrease between March 2020 and July 2020.
Source: Welsh Government analysis of Pay As You Earn Real Time Information, Office for National Statistics and HMRC
The number of paid employees has generally increased in recent years, but fell during the pandemic. The number of paid employees returned to pre-pandemic levels in July 2021, and has remained above since.
Early estimates for June 2023 indicate that the number of paid employees in Wales has increased by 1,600 (0.1%) over the month to 1.32 million.
At a UK level, early estimates for June 2023 showed a monthly decrease of 9,300 (0.03%).
Other detailed breakdowns of paid employees including by local authority, by age and by sector are published by the Office for National Statistics.
Reports
Labour Market Overview: July 2023 , file type: PDF, file size: 800 KB
Data
Datasets and interactive tools
Contact
Alexandra Fitzpatrick
Email: economic.stats@gov.wales
Rydym yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg / We welcome correspondence in Welsh.
Media
Telephone: 0300 025 8099
Rydym yn croesawu galwadau yn Gymraeg / We welcome calls in Welsh.