Labour Market Trends: January 2025

HMRC payrolled employees (experimental)

This information is based on experimental monthly estimates of paid employees and their pay from HM Revenue and Customs’ (HMRC’s) Pay As You Earn (PAYE) Real Time Information (RTI) data.

The latest early payrolled employee estimates for December 2024 indicate that there were 2.45 million payrolled employees in Scotland. Compared with the same month the year before, the number of payrolled employees decreased by 0.5 per cent (-11,000). The number of payrolled employees in the UK stayed largely the same compared with December 2023, falling slightly by 8,000 employees.

Payrolled employment in Scotland decreased by 8,000 employees (-0.3 per cent) from November 2024 to December 2024. This monthly change should be treated as  provisional as it is based on an early estimate for December 2024, and is likely to be revised when more data for December is received next month.

In December 2020, the lowest point following the start of the pandemic, there were 83,000 fewer payrolled employees in Scotland than prior to the pandemic (February 2020). However, the estimated number of payrolled employees has generally been increasing since December 2020 and has continued to be above the pre-coronavirus level (February 2020) since November 2021.

Estimates for December 2024 are provisional as they are based on around 85% of information being available. When comparing the number of payrolled employees in November 2024 with the same period the previous year, the number of payrolled employees in Scotland remained largely unchanged.

Chart 1: Number of payrolled employees in Scotland declined between February and December 2020. However, it has continued to be above the pre-coronavirus level since November 2021, reaching a peak in July 2024. Number of payrolled employees has remained relatively unchanged during 2024

Payrolled Employees, Scotland, November 2019 to December 2024, seasonally adjusted

Source: PAYE RTI, all industries, seasonally adjusted, HMRC
Note: Early estimates for December 2024 are provided to give an indication of the likely level of payrolled employees as well as their median pay in the latest period. The figures are based on around 85% of information being available. They are considered of lower quality and may be subject to revision in next month's release when between 98% to 99% of data will be available.

Chart 2: Annual Growth in the monthly number of payrolled employees in Scotland has been falling over the last year

Annual Percentage Change in Payrolled Employees, Scotland, November 2019 to December 2024

Source: PAYE RTI, all industries, seasonally adjusted, HMRC
Note: Early estimates for December 2024 are provided to give an indication of the likely level of payrolled employees as well as their median pay in the latest period. The figures are based on around 85% of information being available. They are considered of lower quality and may be subject to revision in next month's release when between 98% to 99% of data will be available.