THE employment rate for those aged 16 to 64 in Wales currently stands at 70.7 per cent, up 1.6 percent from the same period a year earlier, according to figures released by Welsh Government last week.

The UK average was 72 per cent, up 0.8 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The unemployment rate in Wales was 7.4 per cent of people classed as "economically active", down 0.5 percent, matching the figures for the UK as a whole.

The economic inactivity rate for those aged 16 to 64 in Wales was 23.5 per cent, down 1.3 percent from last year, which is a higher figure than the UK average of 22.1 per cent, down 0.4 percent from the same period a year earlier.

The annual population survey estimates that for the year to September 30, 2013, the employment rate for those aged 16 to 64 in West Wales and the Valleys was 66.9 per cent, while the rate for East Wales stood at 70.6 per cent.

The economic inactivity rate for those aged 16 to 64 in West Wales and the Valleys was 26.7 percent, more than three per cent higher than the rate for East Wales as a whole, which stood at 23.5 per cent.