THE employment rate in Ceredigion has increased over the past year, but lags behind the UK average.

Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that the number of people in either part-time or full-time employment in Ceredigion rose to 66.8 per cent between April 2017 and March 2018.

This was an increase of 3.2 per cent from the previous year, when it was at 63.6 per cent.

It comes as the government celebrated record-high employment for the UK in the latest quarterly national figures, which cover the period from March to May.

These show employment across the country rising to 75.7 per cent, up by 0.8 per cent from the same quarter a year ago.

Though local employment figures are released simultaneously with the national statistics, they only cover the 12 months to March.

In that 12-month period, national employment was 74.8 per cent, putting Ceredigion eight per cent below the national average.

The working-age population is grouped into three categories by the ONS – employed, unemployed or economically inactive. This third category includes people who are not looking for a job, such as students or people with an illness or disability.

Of the approximately 44,000-strong working age population – those aged between 16 and 64 – in Ceredigion in 2017/18, 33,000 were employed.

The unemployment rate was 4.4 per cent – up from 3.8 per cent the previous year – while the percentage of economically inactive people was 29.4 per cent.

This was a decrease of 4.8 per cent on the previous year.

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