Scotland’s jobless rate lower than rest of UK

Scotland recorded a lower unemployment rate than the UK as a whole in the latest period, official figures show.

The jobless rate remained static at 4 per cent between September and November 2017, down 1 per cent on the same period in the previous year, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Over the same period the unemployment rate in the rest of the UK was 4.3 per cent, while in Northern Ireland it fell to 3.8 per cent and in Wales it was up slightly to 4.9 per cent.

For all those aged 16 and over, unemployment north of the border fell by 1,000 to 112,000, while the number of people in work increased by 7,000 to 2,662,000.

The economic activity rate also rose slightly over the three months to 62.8 per cent.