8000 more Scots jobless

7% increase bucks trend across UK

NICOLA Sturgeon’s Budget plans were overshadowed last night by a rise in unemployment.

Official figures showed an extra 8000 Scots were out of work over the past three months, taking the total to 114,000.

The seven per cent increase contrasts with a fall in the jobless total across the UK over the same period.

It emerged as Sturgeon delivered a setpiece speech to business leaders, trade unionists and academics in Edinburgh, one day before her Government unveils annual spending plans at Holyrood.

Today’s Budget is set to be dominated by landmark changes to Scottish tax rates.

Speaking at the National Economic Forum, Sturgeon promised more action to stimulate growth. She said: “I don’t expect anyone in this room or indeed anybody across the country will agree with every single proposal in the Budget tomorrow.

“But I hope when you see the detail of the Budget, you will agree that it does seek to strike the right balance, that it is aimed at making Scotland an even better place in which to live, study, work and invest.”

The official jobs figures showed 2.65million people in work across Scotland during August to October. The jobless rate rose to 4.1 per cent, slightly better than the overall UK rate of 4.3 per cent.

Stuart McIntyre, of the Fraser of Allander Institute think tank, said: “Today’s rise needs to be put in the wider context of near-record levels of employment. An unemployment rate of 4.1 per cent, even after today’s rise, is remarkably low by historical standards.”