Unemployment rising in Wales but remains below UK average
Video report by ITV Wales Work and Economy Correspondent Carole Green
There has been another rise in the number of people out of work in Wales, latest figures from the Office for National Statistics revealed.
Wales' overall unemployment rate has risen by 0.8%.
It means that roughly 4.6% of the population here are unemployed, which is below the UK average of 5%.
The figures also show more people aged between 16-64 were unemployed between September and November last year, compared to the same period in 2019.
In slightly more encouraging economic news, Wales was the only region of the UK to see a rise (11,000) in the number of workforce jobs between June and September last year.
The vast majority of Welsh jobs continued to be in the service sector, the ONS data showed.
Analysis by ITV Wales Work and Economy Correspondent Carole Green
Today’s ONS Labour market figures show the rate Wales is losing jobs has slowed over the last quarter- but unemployment is still rising here.
Wales entered the pandemic with the lowest rate of unemployment in the U.K. but saw the highest rate of job losses by the Autumn as sectors important to the Welsh Economy like Tourism, Hospitality and the Creative Sector were hit hard.
Whilst some businesses were able to rally over the Summer and early Autumn, the Firebreak and pre-Christmas lockdown dashed hopes of a sustained recovery.
With no sign of these sectors opening in the near future there are still tough months ahead - particularly for young people who make up a large percentage of the Hospitality workforce.
Although Furlough has been extended until the end of April the UK Government announcement came too late for some firms who had already taken their decisions on Furlough ending in October.
Those redundancies are now coming through in today’s figures. Now there are calls from the TUC to follow other countries like Germany, and extend Furlough until the end of the year.
For young people leaving education and looking for their first job, it has been particularly challenging finding employment.
The pandemic meant teenagers like Dilly Robinson had their learning disrupted, A level exams cancelled and 18th birthday parties postponed. Dilly said she felt like she had missed out on "the last great year of being a teenager".
On top of all of that, and like so many others, Dilly was furloughed from her part-time job at a pub and had to work out what to do with her future in the long-term.
She said it was "daunting" when she finished school and was not sure what to do.
"I just felt almost lost in a sense", she said.
"It made me feel low, I felt lost, it made me feel upset, I would cry to my parents."
The 18-year-old now knows that she wants to start her own beauty business and feels a lot more positive about her future but still acknowledged the challenges facing many young people searching for a job.
She added: "Looking at myself this time last year and now, I would never have seen myself how I am now.
"I'm totally happy with where I am now and I'm looking forward to my future."
UK-wide, Britain's jobless rate soared to to its highest level for more than four years as official figures showed nearly 830,000 workers have been dropped from UK payrolls since the start of the coronavirus pandemic.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed the unemployment rate reached 5% for the first time since early 2016 in the three months to November after another 202,000 people lost their jobs.
ONS head of economic statistics Sam Beckett said: “In the three months to November, on our survey data, the employment rate fell sharply again, while the unemployment rate rose to hit 5% for the first time in over four years.
"The number of people saying they had been made redundant in the previous three months remains at a record high.
"Meanwhile, vacancies, which were rising in summer and early autumn, have been falling in the last couple of months."
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