The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Wise move in Living Wage campaign
Figures: Number of unemployed people in Scotland falls to 104,000
An event was held in Dundee yesterday to mark a milestone in the effort to achieve 1,000 Living Wage employers in Scotland.
Cabinet Secretary for Economy, Jobs and Fair Work Keith Brown visited the Steeple Church at the city’s Nethergate to congratulate the Wise Group on becoming the 845th accredited employer.
The minimum wage a company needs to offer to be accepted as a Living Wage employer is set at £8.45 an hour.
Mr Brown said that reaching the milestone could only encourage other businesses to follow suit.
He said: “This proven investment in people leads to increased productivity and reduced staff absence, while sending a strong signal about fairness to your organisation’s stakeholders, and I applaud Wise for recognising its value.”
This rate is significantly higher than the statutory minimum wage for over-25s of £7.50 per hour, with non-profit campaign group the Poverty Alliance, as well as the Scottish Government, pushing for more employers to pay the rate.
Laurie Russell, chief executive of the Wise Group, said: “We have chosen to pay the living wage as an important part of our investment in our people. I believe that other Scottish employers and their employees would also see wider benefits from adopting it.”
Scotland’s unemployment rate has fallen to a 25-year low, official figures show.
The jobless rate dropped to 3.8% in the period March to May, compared to 4.5% in the previous three months.
The Scottish Government said the rate was the lowest it had been in a quarter-century.
Unemployment fell by 19,000 to 104,000 while the number of people in work increased by 25,000.
Over the same period, the UK unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 4.5%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
The number out of work across the UK stood at 1.49 million, 64,000 fewer than for the preceding three months.
Economy Secretary Keith Brown said: “These latest figures show our labour market remains resilient and robust with unemployment now at a record low.
“Our employment rate is also rising, which is good news, and means 25,000 more people are in employment compared to the last quarter.
“When considered alongside the fact that last week’s GDP stats show Scotland’s growth rate over the last quarter to be four times that of the UK, this is further evidence of the strength of the Scottish economy.”
Opposition parties welcomed the falling unemployment rate but raised concerns about rising levels of economic inactivity.
Scottish Labour economy spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: “It is welcome to see some progress in the Scottish labour market but there is no room for complacency from this nationalist government.
“Having a year-on-year increase of 40,000 people being economically inactive is deeply troubling.”
Scottish Conservative economy spokesman Dean Lockhart said: “We cannot escape the fact that much of this fall in unemployment can be attributed to a rise in those who are now economically inactive.”