Scottish unemployment rate increases to 4.7%

Unemployment in Scotland rose slightly in the last quarter.

Data from the Official for National Statistics shows that the unemployment rate for people aged 16 and over was 4.7% between February and April this year.

This was 0.4% up on the previous quarter and above the UK-wide unemployment rate of 4.4%.

The figures show that 130,000 people in Scotland were out of work between February and April, up from 120,000 in the quarter before.

The employment rate for people aged 16 to 64 was 73.1%, which was 1.3% down on the previous three-month period.

This was below the UK-wide employment rate of 74.3%.

In Scotland there were 2,509,000 people in that age group in employment, down from 2,511,000 in the quarter before that.

Deputy First Minister and Economy Secretary Kate Forbes said: “Despite ongoing cost-of-living pressures, Scotland’s labour market shows resilience, with data from HM Revenue and Customs showing 12,000 more payrolled employees in May 2024 compared with a year ago, while our claimant count rate was lower than the UK as a whole.

“The First Minister has been clear that driving economic growth is a key priority for the Scottish Government, so that is why we are investing over £5bn to grow the economy between 2024 and 2025.

“Ministers are committed to working with public and private partners – and constructively across parliament – to maximise the huge economic opportunities that lie ahead.”

Ann Frances Cooney, employment partner at DWF, commented: “Employees have consistently demonstrated that they are prepared to move jobs for higher salaries, with employers doing their best to stem the flow of lost talent by increasing pay where they can.

“With the General Election less than a month away, we can expect further change in the labour market.

“With opinion polls predicting a change in government, employers are likely to act with a degree of caution when recruiting – particularly with unfair dismissal set to be a day one right should Labour win the election.

“Labour has pledged to bring in a raft of enhanced and new employment protections, with political uncertainty and change on the horizon we may well see the labour market slow whilst employers adapt to the changes.“

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