Scottish employment falls

The ONS figures show the number in work dropped to 2,645,000 but the employment rate among people under 65 remained steady at 75 per cent.

There were 115,000 Scots classed as unemployed and looking for work - up 3,000.

The unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.2 per cent, the same rate as the UK-wide figure.

Across the UK, employment increased by 55,000 in the quarter to February to 32.2 million, the highest figure since records began in 1971.

This gave an employment rate of 75.4 per cent, just above Scotland’s rate.

The claimant count for Jobseekers Allowance and out-of-work Universal Credit payments rose in Scotland last month by 1,000 to reach 85,000 - a claimant rate of 2.9 per cent.

In Scotland, the number of people classed as economically inactive, including students, those on long-term sick leave, on early retirement, or who have given up looking for work remained steady at 21.7 per cent.

Across the UK the figure fell by 2,000 to 8.7 million in the latest quarter, giving a rate of 21 per cent, a joint record low.

The ONS is also reporting that average UK wages rose over the preceding year by 2.8 per cent, slightly below the level of price inflation.

Minister for Employability and Training Jamie Hepburn, said: “Scotland’s employment rate has increased over the year and remains high by historical standards, with 81,000 more people in employment compared to the pre-recession peak while our unemployment rate decreased by 0.3 percentage points over the year to 4.2 per cent and has been lower or the same as the UK for 13 of the past 14 months.

“We continue to outperform the UK on employment and unemployment rates for young people and women with 71.9.per cent of women and 57.3 per cent of young people in employment in Scotland compared to 71.0 per cent of women and 53.9 per cent of young people in the UK.”

But Andy Willox, the Federation of Small Businesses’ (FSB) Scottish policy convenor, said today’s figures were “weak” and “will make uncomfortable reading for those charged with looking after Scotland’s job markets.

He added: “Scotland’s smaller businesses have a great record of creating jobs and opportunities in communities across the country. Governments in Edinburgh and London can do more to charge these firms with confidence about the future. For starters, we could look again at how the state buys goods and services.”