Unemployment Up In Scotland

Unemployment has risen in Scotland by 11,000 in the last 3 months, bringing the total out of work to 166,000

The unemployment rate here is now 6%, above the national average of 5.4%.

Across the whole of the UK, unemployment is down by 103,000. The number of people in work in Scotland has gone up by 3000 to over 2.6m.

Youth employment is now at its highest level since 2008.

In FIfe, there are 1,098 fewer Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) claimants than a year ago, which amounts to an 18% decrease. For 18-24 year olds, there is a decrease of 358 claimants - which is a 23% decrease.
 
Cabinet Secretary for Fair Work, Skills and Training Roseanna Cunningham said: "I am pleased to note the increases in the employment level. Although more work is required to ensure more young people find employment, it is good to know that 34,000 more people aged between 16 and 24 have found work since last year and that Scotland continues to perform better than the UK as a whole on this crucial indicator.

"Challenges do exist. For example, there has been a small 0.1 percentage point year-on-year rise in the unemployment rate to 6 per cent. In addition, recent economic growth has been driven, in part, by continued infrastructure investment by the Scottish public sector. This investment is threatened by the cuts the UK Government plans to implement to achieve its fiscal mandate. We also have concerns about the impact of UK cuts on wider business and investor confidence."

Grahame Smith, Scottish Trades Union Congress General Secretary said: "This was another disappointing set of statistics which confirms the swift reversal in Scotland’s labour market recovery. Over seven and a half years since the recession took hold, Scotland’s unemployment rate is still precisely 50% higher than its pre-recession trough. 

"While all age employment has seen a very small increase over the year, growth is now basically stagnant. If jobs cannot be found for people returning to the labour market then unemployment is unlikely to fall over the coming year.
 
"The prolonged period when women benefitted disproportionately from the labour market recovery has now ended with women accounting for most of the rise in unemployment. The small increase in total all age employment also disguises a significant fall in employment for women."