THE number of 18 to 24 year olds claiming benefits in Carmarthenshire has fallen by almost a fifth over the past 12 months, according to the latest figures released today.

The number of youngsters currently claiming in the county fell 18 per cent to 435 in November compared to 12 months ago.

The move meant there were a total 150 fewer 18 to 24-year-old claimants in Carmarthenshire.

Overall, the number of claimants aged between 16 and 64 in the county fell seven per cent to 1,870 – 95 fewer than in November 2014.

“It is excellent that we continue to see the number of claimants in the county falling,” said Wyn Morris of Jobcentre Plus.

“There is a clear downward trend in Carmarthenshire.

“Things are certainly looking pretty good at the moment.”

Mr Morris said that although no comparable figures were available it was likely that the picture in Carmarthenshire mirrored that of Wales as a whole which, Department of Works and Pensions (DWP) officials claimed, was experiencing the lowest number of claimants since the early 1980s.

According to the figures, 1.4million people in Wales are currently in employment – 70.4 per cent of the population, a rise of 42,000.

Employment minister Priti Patel said: “In Wales, there has been the fastest annual growth in private sector employment of any UK region or nation – up 3.7 per cent over the past year.”

However, despite the positive trend, the statistics revealed that Wales remains the third worst of the UK’s 14 economic regions in terms of claimant ratios with only Northern Ireland and the North-East of England experiencing lower levels of employment. The northeast of England however has suffered in recent months due to the collapse of the steel industry and the closure of steel mills which have traditionally been major regional employers.

The figures also showed that 25 per cent of the Welsh population – 479,000 - aged 16 to 64 was considered “economically inactive” – the highest ratio in mainland UK.