Scottish unemployment falls by 25,000

The ONS said the rate between June and August had fallen to 4.6 per cent, with the UK as a whole at 4.9 per cent.

This left the number of jobless people at 127,000.

The labour market statistics also show that employment in Scotland fell by 8,000 over the three months to August 2016. The number of those in employment in Scotland now stands at 2,618,000.

This means the Scottish employment rate fell by 0.1 p.p. over the quarter to 74.0 per cent - below the UK average of 74.5 per cent.

The Secretary of State for Scotland, David Mundell, said: “I am pleased to see unemployment falling again in Scotland, and it is now at its lowest level since 2008. But it is worrying that employment is down and more people are dropping out of the labour market in Scotland when the rest of the UK is seeing employment up.

“The levers to shape the Scottish economy are there for the Scottish government to pull. They need to start focusing on the day job and how they can use their new powers to support the Scottish economy.

“Because these are not just statistics – behind the fall in employment and rise in economic inactivity are thousands of people in Scotland who deserve the security and opportunity that a job brings.”

Economic activity fell by 32,000 over the quarter and now stands at 2,745,000. Also, the economic activity rate decreased over the year to stand at 77.7 per cent.

In September 2016, the number of people out of work and claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance was 55,000 and claimant count, including Universal Credit was 81,900.

Liz Cameron, chief executive of the Scottish Chambers of Commerce, said: “These latest figures present a mixed picture of the Scottish economy. The large fall in unemployment is good news but overall levels of employment in Scotland have fallen, economic inactivity is rising, as has the number of those claiming benefits.