Unemployment falls over the year

Youth unemployment decreased by 3.6 percentage points over the last year to 9.4 per cent, the lowest youth unemployment rate since the series began, and below the UK. Scotland now has the 2^nd lowest youth unemployment rate in the EU.

Despite rising by 0.4 percentage points over the last quarter, Scotland’s overall unemployment rate also fell by 0.4 percentage points over the year to 5.1 per cent, according to the latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures published today.

Labour Market Statistics for September to November 2016 also show that:

• Scotland has the second highest employment rate out of the four UK nations.

• Scotland continues to have higher rates of youth employment than the UK, at 58% against 55.5%.

• Scotland also has lower youth inactivity rates than the UK.

• Furthermore, Scotland continues to outperform the UK on female employment and inactivity rates.

Minister for Employability and Training, Jamie Hepburn, said:

“It is clear that the Scottish and UK economies, are currently facing challenging economic conditions nevertheless, despite a slight rise in the unemployment rate over the most recent quarter, it has fallen over the past year.

“It is also heartening to see how strongly we are performing in the youth labour market, where we see the unemployment levels among young Scots steadily declining.

“Scotland is also leading the UK in terms of the proportion of young people currently in work, which is testament to the effectiveness of our youth employment strategy, ‘Developing the Young Workforce’, and our commitment to support Modern Apprentices, providing 30,000 places by 2020.

“Despite the strong performance of the youth labour market, the Brexit vote caused significant economic uncertainty, threatening our economic recovery and the stability of our jobs market.

“Scottish Government analysis suggests that a hard Brexit could cost the Scottish economy up to £11 billion a year by 2030. Since the vote, Ministers have kept engaged with business and stakeholders to understand the challenges, mitigate their impact and ultimately protect our access to the single market as outlined in the Scottish Government paper, ‘Scotland’s Place in Europe’, published in December.”

“Additionally, we have also announced a Capital Acceleration Programme, and the £500 million Scottish Growth Scheme, which is designed to provide investment guarantees, and some loans, of up to £5 million for eligible businesses.”

Notes to editors:

The full publication can be read at:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/employmentandlabourmarket/peopleinwork/employmentandemployeetypes/bulletins/regionallabourmarket/previousReleases