Written question WQ92719
- Asked by
- Andrew RT DaviesConservative
- To be answered by
- Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Welsh Language
- Tabled
- Due
- Answered
- Time to answer
- 13 days
Question
What assessment has the Cabinet Secretary made of latest economy statistics published by the ONS that found economic inactivity in Wales has increased to 28.1 per cent, compared to the 22.2 per cent UK average?
Answer
Answered by Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Energy and Welsh Language
The current labour market statistics are classified by ONS as ‘official statistics in development’. The ONS are continuing their work to improve their labour market estimates, with a more robust data source expected to be provided through its Transformed Labour Force Survey. The first estimates from that data should be available later this year.
Care needs to be taken at present when assessing what is happening to the labour market in Wales due to the different data sources and their trends. The headline employment statistics are produced by the ONS from the Labour Force Survey (LFS). However, data from the LFS are particularly volatile at present, with some large changes between periods being exhibited. These may not be wholly representative of what may be actually happening in the labour market at present.