Welsh job creation hits 25-year record high

A record 22,000 jobs were created or safeguarded last year by the Welsh Development Agency ­ the highest total in its 25-year history.

The jobs total was 15 per cent higher than the target set for the agency by the Welsh Assembly. However, the WDA missed its target for attracting private sector investment into the Welsh economy, achieving a total of £545m against a goal of £580m.

A total of 21,873 jobs were created or safeguarded with the aid of WDA support. Of these, just under 12,500 were in Welsh-owned businesses while the remaining 9,245 were in overseas-based companies investing in Wales. Six in ten of the jobs were in west Wales or the Valleys ­ again hitting the target for the year set by the Assembly.

The WDA's success helps to soften the blow of the steel closures in south Wales announced earlier this year by Corus. The company is closing its Ebbw Vale plant, ending steelmaking at Llanwern and reducing operations at Shotton with the loss of more than 3,000 jobs.

Graham Hawker, the former boss of Hyder who is now the WDA's chief executive, said that the results were a "creditable performance" at a time when the rural economy had been affected by the foot and mouth crisis and market conditions had been difficult for manufacturing.