Scottish Unemployment at Lowest Levels on Record

Rates of unemployment are at historically low levels in Scotland and they are lower here than in the UK as a whole.

Jobless rates north of the border are being recorded at 3.2 per cent, with the number of people in employment having risen by 0.6 per cent between the fist three months of 2018 and the same period of this year.

More than three quarters of people aged between 16 and 64 across Scotland are currently in some form of employment, according to official figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

However, a total of 22 per cent of Scottish adults are categorised as being economically inactive, with that figure having risen by 0.3 per cent between the early months of 2018 and this year.

Business minister, Jamie Hepburn MSP, welcomed the latest figures on employment in Scotland and said that the “Scottish economy and jobs market continues to strengthen”.

He noted that the latest labour market figures suggest that jobs growth among women and young people is stronger in Scotland than the UK as a whole.

Mr Hepburn also pointed out that youth unemployment in Scotland is at a record low, with 59.3 per cent of young people around the country currently in some form of work.

However, the business minister expressed concerns that the UK’s exit from the European Union could soon have a damaging effect on labour market performance in Scotland and beyond.

“While Scotland’s economy and job market continues to grow, the UK government’s EU exit plans, in whatever form, will cost jobs, make people poorer and damage our society,” he said in a statement.

“The Scottish government has consistently been clear that the best option for the future wellbeing and prosperity of Scotland, and the UK as a whole, is to stay in the European Union.”

One area of the Scottish economy doing particularly well of late is the digital tech sector, which is now believed to provide employment to around 58,000 people across the country.

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