Standing view · business · Carmarthenshire
deteriorating, held with established confidence, formed on 5 October 2026 from movements in 2026-06.
Business deaths in Carmarthenshire numbered 165 in the quarter to March 2025, 175 in the quarter to June and 185 in the quarter to March 2026, each recorded as unfavourable, and 130 in the quarter to December 2025, a favourable one. Businesses employing 5 to 9 people numbered 840 in 2025, those employing 20 to 49 people 175 in 2025 and 185 in 2026, and those employing 10 to 19 people 430 in 2026. Deaths were highest in the quarter to March 2026.
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 Carmarthenshire. Where no figure supports a direction we hold no view rather than a hedged one.
| Measure | Period | Direction |
|---|---|---|
| Business deaths | 2025-03 | deteriorating |
| Business deaths | 2025-06 | deteriorating |
| Business deaths | 2025-12 | improving |
| Business deaths | 2026-03 | 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 |
|---|---|---|
| Businesses employing 20 to 49 people | 2025 | — |
| Businesses employing 5 to 9 people | 2025 | falling |
| Businesses employing 10 to 19 people | 2026 | rising |
| Businesses employing 20 to 49 people | 2026 | — |