Unemployment in Wales falls slightly to 4.3%

Job centre Image copyright PA
Image caption Wales still has one of the lowest proportions of 16 to 64-year-olds in employment in the UK

Unemployment has fallen in both Wales and the UK, according to the latest figures.

In Wales the jobless rate among working age adults between April and June was 4.3%, higher than the UK rate of 4%.

Last month's figures from the Office for National Statistics, which covered the period from March to May, were 4.5% for Wales and 4.2% for the UK.

There are now record levels of 16 to 64 year olds employed in Wales, at a rate of 74.2%.

Compared with a year ago, that is an increase in the employment rate of 1.6 percentage points, while unemployment has stayed roughly the same.

However Wales still has one of the lowest proportions of 16 to 64-year-olds in employment in the UK.

Only Northern Ireland, Yorkshire and Humber and north-east England have lower levels.

The employment rate is at a record level, but research for BBC Wales from the Resolution Foundation think tank showed typical household incomes in Wales had hardly risen in real terms over the past decade.

The typical household in Wales has an income of £20,900, which is only 1.1% higher than 10 years ago, before the financial crisis hit.

Incomes in Wales dipped during the financial crisis and continued to fall until 2013 and have struggled since.

Across the nations and regions of the UK, Wales has seen the smallest growth in incomes in real terms.

In contrast the East Midlands and Yorkshire and Humberside have seen incomes rise by 8.9% in the last 10 years.

However two regions of the UK - London and south-east England - have seen typical household incomes fall in the same period.

In London incomes have fallen in real terms by 1.8%.