Local Area Labour Markets in Scotland - Statistics from the Annual Population Survey 2013

Summary

People in work

• 20 Local Authorities saw increases in their employment rates over the year but 29 saw reductions between 2008 (start of the recession) and 2013, reflecting the continuing challenging economic circumstances.
• Dundee City saw the largest decrease in employment rate across Scotland's local authorities over the year, down 3.9 percentage points to 61.4%, while its employment level decreased by 3,500. Over the year, Dundee has seen a shift out of employment into inactivity (with the level of those who stated they were inactive for other reasons up over 3,000 over this period).
• The employment level (16+) for females in 2013 was 1,198,500, up 15,800 over the year, and the highest level seen from the APS since Apr'08-Mar'09
• The gap between male and female employment rates in 2013 was 6.9 percentage points, the lowest seen since 2004 (when the APS started) and 3.2 percentage points lower than that in the UK as a whole.
• In 2013, the employment rate for all adults in Scotland holding a Modern Apprenticeship qualification was 91.1%, just over 20 percentage points higher than the overall Scotland rate^[1].
• In 2013 there were 234,100 workers who were underemployed (9.6%, of all employed people over 16), a decrease of 9,300 over the year but an increase of 59,600 since the start of the recession in 2008. Underemployment levels are highest amongst part-time female and full-time male workers.
• The youth employment rate in Scotland decreased by 0.6 percentage point over the year; from 53.2% in 2012 to 52.6% in 2013. The youth employment rate in Scotland was 2.8 percentage points higher than the UK rate (49.8%) in 2013.
• A total of 17 local authorities (including Edinburgh) saw a decrease in their youth employment rate, whilst over the same period the remaining 15 saw increases. Edinburgh and Highland both saw large decreases in their youth employment rate (12.5 and 9.1 percentage point decrease respectively), while Glasgow has seen an increase in its youth employment rate (up 7.5 percentage points from 34.0% to 41.4%).
  • The decrease in Edinburgh is being driven by an increase in the number of inactive students aged 16-24, up 1,300 from 25,100 to 26,4400, which has increased the inactivity rate for 16-24 year olds in Edinburgh from 39.7% to 47.3% over the year.
  • A similar effect has also been seen in Highland, where the number of inactive students aged 16-24 has increased by 800 from around 3,400 to 4,200, which has increased the inactivity rate for 16-24 years in Highland from 27.4% to 37.0% over the year..

People not in work

• Over the year, the unemployment rate^[2] decreased in 21 local authority areas in Scotland, with 10 of the remaining authorities seeing increases in their unemployment rate, and one seeing no change.
• In 2013, there were 124,800 people in Scotland over the age of 16 (and not in full-time education) who had never worked, up 19.4% on the level in 2012 (104,500) and up 16.4% on 2008 level (107,200)
• The youth unemployment rate (16-24) in Scotland was 20.6%, 0.5 percentage points higher than the rate in the UK (20.1%). The rate in Scotland has increased by 7.0 percentage points since 2008, higher than the increase of 5.1 percentage points in the UK over the same period.
• In 2013, 29,000 (11.9%) of 16-19 year olds were not in education, employment or training (NEET). The level of NEET has decreased by 4,000 (1.4 percentage points) over the year, driven by a decrease in the number of males who were NEET.