The Press and Journal (Inverness, Highlands, and Islands)
Scots unemployment rate still exceeds rest of Britain
Employment: But latest statistics show improvement north of border
Scotland’s jobless rate continued to be higher than that of the UK which hit eight-year low in the quarter toMay, newfigureshave shown.
But the official figures fromtheOffice forNational Statistics (ONS) show that Scotland has “narrowed the gap” with the rest of the country.
Unemployment in Scotland fell by 18,000 between March and May, putting the number of unemployed people north of the border at 152,000, according to according to the latest ONS data.
The labour- market statistics also show employment in Scotland rose by 17,000 over the threemonth period to stand at 2,625,000. The Scottishemployment rate increased over the quarter to 74% compared with a UK average of 74.4%.
Although the trend was welcomed, Scotland’s jobless rate continues to be higher than that of the UK as a whole, at 5.5% and 4.9% respectively.
Across the UK the employment rate reached a record high of 74.4%, with 31.7million people in work in the three months toMay - 176,000 more than the previous quarter. A total of 1.65million people are unemployed in Britain, a fall of 54,000 over the quarter and 201,000 compared with a year ago, giving a jobless rate of 4.9%.
The jobless total is now the lowest for eight years, while the rate is the lowest since the summer of 2005.
But the claimant count, including those on Jobseeker’s Allowance, increased by 400 last month to 759,100, the fourth consecutive monthly rise.
Liz Cameron, chief executive of Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said: “This is very good news for the Scottish economy and demonstrates that businesses are continuing to display resilience and invest in talent.
“It also means that Scotland is once again narrowing the gap with the UK in terms of our performance on employment andunemployment.”
She also highlighted the ONS figure indicating the 2.15million EU nationals working in the UK.
She added: “This is a clear reminder that our businesses need clear and timely information about their future status following the vote for the UK to leave the EU.”
Paul Wheelhouse, Scotland’s business, innovation and energy minister, highlighted a rise in female employment and said Scotland was outperforming the rest of the UK in relation to youth employment.
He said: “While there is much to be welcomed from these figures, including 61,000 more people being employed now than at the pre-recession high point, we know that there is more that we can and must do.
“The Scottish economy has strong fundamentals, but as businesses face uncertainty during negotiations over our future relationship with the EU, we will not only work hard to protect Scotland’s relationship with the EU, but will strive to make the most of current and future opportunities in our economy as set out in our economic strategy.”