Fewer on payroll in Wales despite higher employment

More people in Wales are in work and fewer are unemployed, according to new figures — but the number of people being paid through company payrolls has dropped, prompting concerns about pressures on the jobs market.

Data published on Tuesday (15 April) by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and HMRC shows the number of payrolled employees in Wales fell by 3,000 in March, a 0.2% monthly decrease to around 1.31 million.

Across the UK, payroll figures were also down by 78,500 (0.3%).

Despite the fall in payroll data, wider jobs figures from the Labour Force Survey show that the employment rate in Wales rose to 70.4% in the three months to February 2025.

The unemployment rate dropped to 4.8%, down 0.8 percentage points on the quarter.

The economic inactivity rate in Wales — the proportion of people not working and not actively looking for work — was 25.9%.

That was up slightly on the quarter but 2.0 percentage points lower than a year ago.

Alyn and Deeside outperforms Welsh average

Latest figures for the Alyn and Deeside constituency, covering January to December 2024, show the local area is performing more strongly than Wales overall across key job indicators:

The figures suggest more people are in work locally, fewer are unemployed, and fewer are outside the labour market altogether, compared to the Welsh average.

Union warns of risks to jobs market

Reacting to the figures, the Trades Union Congress (TUC) said action was needed to protect jobs, particularly as global trade tensions affect UK industry.

TUC General Secretary Paul Nowak said:

“With the global turbulence from Trump’s tariff chaos, we should be pulling all the levers possible to protect jobs.”

“The government did the right thing to safeguard jobs in steel.”

“We will need more action in the weeks ahead to protect jobs across UK industry, including measures to bring down the cost of energy.”

“The Bank of England must act too. A rate cut in May would ease the pressure on businesses hit by tariffs.”

“And it would protect the household spending and business investment that employment growth depends on.”

Minister for Employment, Alison McGovern MP said:

 “We’re determined to get Britain working again as part of our Plan for Change by overhauling Jobcentres, creating good jobs, transforming skills, transitioning to net zero and delivering the biggest upgrade to rights at work for a generation.

 “This month, local areas are also starting to roll out their plans to tackle the root causes of inactivity as we get Britain back to health and back to work – backed by a share of £125 million of investment.

 “Real wages are continuing to rise, and the National Living Wage is also coming into effect this month – boosting working people’s payslips and improving living standards as part of our Plan for Change.”