Scotland's Economy

Unemployment in Scotland falls to lowest ever rate on record

February 19, 2019 by paulobrien No Comments | Category Business, Economy, Employment, Uncategorized

Commenting on this month’s labour market statistics update, released by the ONS for October to December 2018, Business Minister Jamie Hepburn said:

“Despite the huge and continued challenges of Brexit, the Scottish economy and jobs market continues to strengthen.

“Scotland’s employment rate rose to 75.5%, close to the highest on record. The unemployment rate fell to 3.5%, a record low and lower than the UK rate of 4.0%.

“Labour market outcomes for women and young people in Scotland once again outperform the UK. Scotland’s employment rate for women rose to 71.8%, higher than the UK rate of 71.4%. The employment rate for young people in Scotland rose to 61.6%, higher than the UK rate of 55.8%. Scotland’s unemployment rate for women fell to 2.8% and for young people, to 7.6%, both record lows and lower than in the UK.

“As good as these latest stats are, the UK Government’s Brexit plans, in whatever form, will cost jobs, make people poorer and damage our society.

“We will continue to call on the UK Government to immediately rule out the possibility of a ‘no deal’ Brexit and extend the Article 50 process. However, as a responsible government we will also continue – and indeed intensify – our work to prepare for all outcomes as best we can.”

Background

Scottish breakdown of labour market statistics will be available online from 11am

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