Employment outlook booming despite the threat from Brexit

Unemployment in S cotland is now 0.5 per cent lower than the UK as a whole as the jobs market nor th of the B order continues to boom.

The number of Scots out of work fell by 1,000 to 91,000 between March and May this year. The unemployment rate of 3.3 per cent is close to the lowest on record and 0.5 lower than the Uk-wide figure.

T h e j o b s p i c t u r e r e ma i n s strong Uk-wide, with a record high of 32.75 million people in work, while 1.29 million were out of work, the lowest since at least 1992.

T h e e m p l o y m e n t r a t e i n Scotland rose by a quarter to 75.8 per cent – below the UK rate of 76 per cent. There are now 2.69 million Scots now in work, up 7,000.

S c o t t i s h S e c r e t a r y D av i d Mundell said: “It is ver y positive to see that employment levels remain high while the n u mb e r o f p e o p l e who a r e u n e m p l o y e d h a s s t ay e d a t almost a record low. The UK g o ve r n m e n t i s e n s u r i n g a strong S cottish economy by investing in cit y and growth deals across Scotland.”

Although employment has i n c r e a s e d a n d u n e m p l o y - ment has remained static, the number of people in Scotland claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance and out-of-work Universal Credit is up 2,100 on the month of May and 18,700 higher than the year before.

Scottish Government business minister Jamie Hepburn welcomed the “strong results” for Scotland’s labour market.

“O u r u n e mp l oy me n t r a t e has now been lower than the UK’S for ten months in a row,” he said. “But it’s not just headline rates where we’re doing well. The employment rate f o r S c o t l a n d ’s wo me n r o s e over the quar ter and year to 72.5 per cent – continuing to outperform the UK.”

But the SNP minister warned that the looming prospect of Brexit will “cost jobs, make p eople p o orer and damage our society”.

H e a d d e d : “T h e S c o t t i s h Government has consistently been clear that the best option for the future wellbeing and prosp erit y of S cotland, and the UK as a whole, is to stay in the European Union.”

Tracy Black, CBI S cotland d i r e c t o r, s a i d : “T h e l o c a l lab our market continues to hold up, in spite of huge uncertainty across the economy.

“Fo r ma ny S c o t t i s h f i r ms though, skills shor tages are biting, and that’s why it’s so impor tant to see businesses invest time and resourcing to in-house training and development initiatives.

“It’s also a timely reminder that we need to secure a postBrexit immigration system for the UK that’s open, controlled and flexible enough to meet Scotland’s needs.”

scott.macnab@scotsman.com