Standing view · labour_market · Pembrokeshire
deteriorating, held with established confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2026-08.
The job market in Pembrokeshire has been weakening. The claimant count was 2,580 in February 2026, 2,535 in April, 2,420 in June and 2,405 in July 2026, each recorded as unfavourable against the usual pattern for its month even as the level fell, with claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 at 3.6 in February also unfavourable. Running the other way, the count was 2,440 in May 2026 and the proportion 3.4 in the same month, both favourable. In the year to March 2026, 13.5 of those aged 16-64 were self employed.
A view is formed only where the evidence names a figure you can check. Each movement listed as a reason had to be large enough to matter and distinctive in at least one way — unusual against this area's own history, unusual against comparable areas, or sustained over several periods. A movement shared with peers counts for less, because it says something about the country rather than about Pembrokeshire. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Claimant count | 2026-02 | deteriorating |
| Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 | 2026-02 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-04 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-05 | improving |
| Claimants as a proportion of residents aged 16-64 | 2026-05 | improving |
| Claimant count | 2026-06 | deteriorating |
| Claimant count | 2026-07 | deteriorating |
These figures carry no defensible direction of their own: a rising house price is good news to an owner and bad news to someone trying to buy, so we do not score one as an improvement. They are shown because they are part of the picture, and they did not decide the view above.
| Measure | Period | Series |
|---|---|---|
| % aged 16-64 who are self employed | 2026-03 | — |