Scotland's Economy

Lowest unemployment rate on record

December 11, 2018 by kristenmcnicoll No Comments | Category Employment

Commenting on the labour market statistics, released by the ONS for August to October 2018, Business Minister Jamie Hepburn said:

“The Scottish economy and jobs market remain strong despite the continued challenges of Brexit.

“Scotland’s unemployment rate fell again, down to 3.7%, which is lower than the UK rate of 4.1% – where unemployment has remained unchanged over the quarter. This is our lowest unemployment rate on record.

“Although overall employment fell very slightly over the quarter, on employment for women and young people, we continue to outperform the UK with a rate of 71.3% for women, higher than the UK rate of 71.2%, and 58.8% for young people, higher than the UK rate of 55.9%. Compared to the UK we also have lower rates of unemployment for both women and young people.

“We remain committed to creating the right economic environment for jobs growth – and our record on unemployment shows this is working. However, Brexit remains the biggest threat to Scotland’s prosperity and these statistics reinforce the urgent need to ensure the positive work we are doing to strengthen our economy is not undone.

“The upcoming Budget will set out how we help protect Scotland as far as we can from the damaging uncertainty of Brexit and how we will deliver on our vision of a healthier, wealthier and fairer country. Ultimately, we believe staying in the EU is in Scotland’s best interests.”

Tags: employment; labour market

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