Key Economic Statistics - November 2008

The key points from the latest release are:

The Labour Force Survey estimates for the 3 months to September 2008 show:

• The employment rate of people of working age in Wales was 70.6 per cent, down from 71.3 per cent in the same period a year earlier.  The UK average was 74.4 per cent.
• The ILO unemployment rate in Wales was 6.7 per cent of the economically active, up from 5.3 per cent in the same period a year earlier.  For the UK as a whole it was 5.8 per cent.
• The rate of economic activity amongst people of working age in Wales was 75.8 per cent, up from 75.5 per cent in the same period a year earlier.  The UK average was 79.1 per cent.

The claimant count rate in October 2008 for Wales was 3.4 per cent of the workforce, up 0.7 percentage points on October 2007 (UK rate 3.0 per cent).

The claimant count rate in October 2008 for West Wales and the Valleys was 2.8 per cent of the resident population of working-age.  The rate for East Wales stood at 2.5 per cent.

The Index of Production for the four quarters to quarter 2 2008 for Wales rose by 3.1% compared with the same period a year ago. The UK index rose by 0.2% over the same period.

The Index of Market Services for Wales for the four quarters to quarter 2 2008 fell by 0.2% compared with the previous four quarters. The UK index rose by 3.3% over the same period.

In April 2008, average gross weekly earnings of full-time employees in Wales stood at £498.1, 86.7 per cent of the UK average. On a residence basis, average weekly earnings in Wales stood at £506.7, 88.2 per cent of the UK average.

The detailed quarterly Labour Force Survey datasets on StatsWales were updated to include the new labour market information on 14 November 2008.

Contact:
Tel: 029 2082 5017
E-mail: economic.stats@wales.gsi.gov.uk

Next Update:
19 December 2008