The latest official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) show that unemployment in Scotland fell by 4,000 to 200,000 between November and January. This is in sharp contrast to the rise of 7,000 for the UK as a whole. It means that the Scottish unemployment rate is 7.4%, below the UK’s figure of 7.8%. The figures also show that employment in Scotland rose by 19,000 over the same period, with the number of people in jobs reaching 2,483,000. The number of young people unemployment also fell. It’s now 17% in Scotland as opposed to 20.6% for the UK as a whole.
Finance Secretary John Swinney said the news was a “welcome improvement” in Scotland’s labour market. “Our headline unemployment rate,” he said, “is now at its lowest level for over three years. Employment is on the increase and our employment rate is the fifth joint highest of the UK nations and regions. Scotland now has a lower headline unemployment rate and higher youth employment rate than the UK as a whole.”
Scottish Secretary Michael Moore called the rise in Scottish employment was “good news”. “This government,” he said, “will continue to ensure helping people into sustainable, long-term opportunities is a priority. We are determined to rebalance our economy and create stability, which is the key to creating jobs across Scotland in future. The policies we have put in place are geared towards growth.”
Scottish Labour’s finance spokesman, Ken Macintosh, also welcomed the increase in employment. However, he argued that there was what he called “the big story” behind the figures — namely the growing number of Scottish women who have taken themselves out of the workforce. “Female unemployment,” he said, “is heading in the wrong direction, a trend compounded by the SNP’s decision to cut college places for adults which disproportionately affects women trying to get back into work.
At the STUC, General Secretary, Grahame Smith, admitted that the statistics were “better news than recent months. However, before anyone gets too carried away some points have to be stressed: the fall in unemployment and rise in employment was driven entirely by men moving into jobs; women’s unemployment actually increased and employment fell.”
The statistics also show a change in the balance of the economy. For example, local government employment fell by 32,000 and jobs in the wider civil service jobs by 4,000; but by contrast the number employed in Central Government went up by 11,000. Employment in the private sector increased by 151,000 to 24 million.