AS Wales celebrates its highest employment rate on record, statistics reveal that 70 more people are claiming unemployment benefits in Carmarthenshire compared to this time last year.

Labour Market Statistics have revealed that employment is up across the country as a whole with almost 1.5 million people currently in work, 38,000 more than this time 12 months ago.

Compared to statistics in 2015, there are currently 70 more people claiming unemployment benefits in Carmarthenshire, 55 of those being aged between 18 and 24.

However the number of claimants across the country has reduced by 33 per cent, a drop of 1,070 people.

A spokesperson at the Department of Work and Pensions said: “Things are looking settled in Carmarthenshire.

"Due to the time of year with students leaving school and looking for jobs it is understandable to have a bit of a rise in the number of claimants.

“There are currently more than 1,200 jobs on the Job Centre system either in Carmarthenshire or within driving distance, and of those jobs between 80 and 85 per cent of them are full-time vacancies.

“In particular, there are 780 full times jobs available on the Universal Job Match website in the Ammanford area or in a 20 mile radius.

“There are a number of seasonal vacancies available as we approach the Christmas period and there are new stores opening in the county next year, so hopefully things will continue to get better.”

Damian Hinds, Employment Minister, said: "Once again it's great news for Britain as the employment rate remains at a record high with more than 31.8 million men and women in work."

First Minister Carwyn Jones added: “The decline in unemployment in Wales has outperformed the rest of the UK for the seventh consecutive month.

Unemployment in Wales now stands at 4.3 per cent, that is 0.7 percentage points lower than the UK average and a fall of 1.7 percentage points over the past 12 months. Economic inactivity and claimant count in Wales have also decreased over the year.

“Employment in Wales stands at 73.5 per cent, the highest rate on record, with 38,000 more workers in employment across Wales than at this same time last year.

“We have big ambitions for Wales and its economy and will continue to work hard to support business and ensure the economic conditions to create and safeguard sustainable jobs and training in Wales. That is why we are investing £111milion next year to fund our all-age apprenticeship and traineeships programme, to meet our target of creating 100,000 apprenticeship places over the lifetime of this government.

“We are also allocating an extra £46milion for the new Development Bank of Wales to improve access to lending for thousands of small and medium-sized Welsh companies in order to support our priority for creating and safeguarding jobs right across Wales.”