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The Hoover factory opened in Pentrebach, Merthyr, in 1948 and provided a generation with the brand leader in washing machines. It closed in 2009, symbolising the end of an era for manufacture in Merthyr and South Wales generally. It was calculated in 2011 that there is a ratio of 32.7 claimants for every live unfilled vacancy in Merthyr Tydfil (http://www.guardian.co.uk/money/work-blog/2011/jun/08/merthyr-tydfil-jobseekers-gmb).