Slight rise in Scotland’s employment rate during last quarter says ONS

Scotland’s employment rate recovered slightly during the last quarter, according to the latest figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the employment rate from December 2020 to February 2021 for those aged 16 to 64 was 74.6 per cent, up 0.2 per cent on the previous quarter.

The unemployment rate for those aged 16 and over was unchanged at 4.4 per cent.

There were 2.567 million people aged 16-64 in employment between December and February, while 120,000 in that age range were unemployed.

Meanwhile, the Ukwide unemployment rate eased back further in February and job vacancies surged as firms prepared to reopen after lockdown in a sign of hope for the battered jobs market.

The ONS said the jobless rate fell to 4.9 per cent between December and February, down from 5 per cent in the previous three months.

Most experts had expected it to rise to 5.1 per cent.

But the figures also showed the number of workers on UK payrolls fell by 56,000 in March after three months of increases, as the pandemic continued to take its toll.

Overall there were 813,000 fewer workers on payrolls than in March 2020.

The ONS said there were further signs that the jobs sector is stabilising, with statistics signalling a near-16 per cent jump in vacancies in March.

Darren Morgan, director of economic statistics at the ONS, said: "The latest figures suggest that the jobs market has been broadly stable in recent months after the major shock of last spring."