Wales' employment rate is up after fall in sickness levels
The country saw its employment rate hit 72.6% - which is up 2.2 percentage points on the previous quarter and up 3.6 percentage points on the year.
But it remains below the UK average of 75.2%.- with only the North East, Yorkshire and Humber, and Northern Ireland with a lower figure. Meanwhile the unemployment rate in Wales was 4.4%.
This is down 0.4 percentage points on the quarter and up 0.9 percentage points on the year.
Wales performs well compared to the overall UK, where the unemployment rate was 4.7%, which was up on the year and the last quarter.
In addition there was positive news over economic inactivity in the working age population.
These figures include full-time carers or students, and people who are on long-term sick or have taken early retirement.
In the years prior to the pandemic it had fallen from over 24% to 21.8% after steady progress to tackle the problem but it spiked during and after Covid hit. This saw it go over 28% in 2024, the worst rate of all UK nations and regions.
But the last 12 months has seen the rate fall.
In the last quarter the economic inactivity rate in Wales was 23.9%. This is down 2.1 percentage points on the quarter and down 4.5 percentage points on the year.
The UK economic inactivity rate remains lower at 21.0%.
However Wales has now moved off the bottom and ahead of the North East, Yorkshire and Humber, and Northern Ireland.
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