personal taxes and lower public spending. In a report for the Institute of Welsh Affairs in 2003, Phil Cooke of Cardiff University argued that the Welsh Government had responded to the loss of productivity in manufacturing by substituting new jobs in the public sector, making Wales increasingly dependent on fiscal transfers from Whitehall. Cooke suggested that a relatively weak devolution settlement had prevented the Welsh Government from developing innovative economic policies, especially when compared to Scotland. However, critics including former Welsh Secretary Ron Davies and John Lovering, another Cardiff academic, claimed that Cooke's argument that a more powerful Assembly was a necessary precondition to more effective economic policies was a non-sequitur. Labour force According to the Welsh Government bulletin of economic statistics for November 2010, the Labour Force Survey estimates for the 3 months to September 2010 show that: The employment rate in Wales was 67.1%, unchanged from the same period a year earlier. The UK average was 70.8%. The ILO unemployment rate in Wales was 8.1% of the economically active, down from 8.8% in the same period a year earlier. The UK average was 7.7%. The economic activity rate in Wales was 73.3%, down from 73.7% in the same period a year earlier. The UK average was 76.8%. The claimant count rate in October 2010 for Wales was 5.0% of the workforce, down 0.7% in October 2009. The UK average was 4.5%. For statistical purposes, the Office for National Statistics divides Wales into 26 travel to work areas, collections of wards for which "of the resident economically active population, at least 75% actually work in the area, and also, that of everyone working in the area, at least 75% actually live in the area". Some of these areas span the border with England. Small and medium-sized enterprises made up over 99% of the 190,000 businesses in Wales in 2006, but accounted for less than 60% of employment. Alongside official national statistics a number of respected private sector surveys are used to understand how the economy is performing. These include the British Chambers of Commerce Quarterly Economic Survey Regional economic differences Earnings Average earnings and employment vary considerably across Wales. They are both generally higher in east Wales, especially in urban areas, but lower in south west Wales and the Valleys, although earnings in Bridgend and Neath Port Talbot, which are still centres of skilled manufacturing employment, are relatively high.