Scottish unemployment remains stable

New official statistics published today show unemployment in Scotland remained unchanged between February and April.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) figures show Scotland’s unemployment rate was 4.3 per cent over the three month period, the same as the previous quarter, meaning 118,000 people are still looking for work.

The rate has risen from 4 per cent over the past year, but remains low by previous standards.

ONS figures suggested the proportion of Scots in work rose slightly, to more than 75 per cent of those of working age.

The figures imply that there has been a very small drop in employment and in the number of people available for work.

However, among those aged 16 to 64, normally seen as “working age”, the number of men available for work rose by 15,000 and the number of men in work was up by 13,000.

The Labour Market Survey for February to April shows the number of working women was down by 3,000 and the number available for work was down by 5,000.

The main reasons given for being unavailable for work are family caring responsibilities, studying or illness.

During February to April, employment across the whole UK was up more sharply, by 146,000, and unemployment fell by 38,000 to 1.42 million, giving a UK jobless rate of 4.2%.

Andrew McRae, the Federation of Small Businesses’ (FSB) Scotland Policy Chair, said: “While a static unemployment rate might not sound interesting, we must remember the thousands of firms up and down the country working hard to sustain local economies. North of the border, small and medium sized businesses support more than half of all private sector jobs.”

New figures also published today show that Scotland’s apprenticeship target has also been met – with more than 27,000 apprenticeships created in 2017/18. The Scottish Government’s has committed to increase apprenticeship starts to 30,000 by 2020.

Mr McRae added: “Every smaller business that takes on apprentices deserves some credit for these impressive figures.

“Apprenticeships are a great way for a business to grow talent and fill skills gaps. We believe that extra funding for adult apprentice training is one way we could encourage more Scottish smaller firms to go down this path.”