18 Jan 2005
Scottish labour market improvement continues
The latest labour market statistics for Scotland show unemployment falling and employment rising over the quarter and over the year.
The Scottish employment rate is the highest since records began in 1992, while the claimant count is at a new low level, the lowest since June 1975.
Commenting on the figures, Scottish Secretary Alistair Darling said:
"These latest figures underline the continuing improvement of the Scottish labour market.
"The Government has worked hard to nurture an environment favourable to growth and employment. It is a tribute to the success of the jobcentre plus network and the continuing success of our welfare to work policies, including the New Deal and the Scottish Government's commitment to enterprise and skills that we can add many more to the additional 188,000 people in work since spring 1997."
Latest Data for Scotland
Unemployment
Unemployment in Scotland fell by 6,000 to 142,000 in September-November 2004 compared with the previous three months. The unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 5.5 per cent. Compared with the equivalent period one year earlier, the unemployment level fell by 5,000 and the rate decreased by 0.3 percentage points.
The Claimant Count
The claimant count in Scotland, based on the seasonally adjusted number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance, fell by 1,100 in December to 87,900 and has fallen by 10,000 over the year. The claimant count rate in December remained unchanged at 3.3 per cent, down 0.4 percentage points over the year.
Employment
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) indicates that the number of people in employment in September-November 2004 was 2,446,000. Employment rose by 9,000 compared with the previous three months and by 44,000 on the same period in 2003. The employment rate amongst those of working age rose by 0.2 percentage points on the previous three months, to 75.2 per cent, and was up by 1.0 percentage points on the same period a year earlier.
NOTES FOR NEWS EDITORS
1. The internationally comparable International Labour Organisation (ILO) measure of unemployment is the headline figure published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) for UK regions/countries.
2. The ILO measure of unemployment, which is derived from the Labour Force Survey (LFS), is published 12 times a year for an average of the three preceding consecutive months. ONS recommend that seasonally adjusted data should be compared with the previous non-overlapping three-month period: i.e. June-August data should be compared with March-May data. Quarter to quarter changes at country/regional level are especially subject to sampling variability and should be interpreted in the context of changes over several quarters.
3. The count of those claiming unemployment-related benefits continues to provide a full and timely range of data at sub-Scotland level for local authorities, TTWAs and parliamentary constituencies. The claimant count is also the main source of information on unemployment by age and duration. Data on the claimant count in the New Deal age and duration groups is available from 1985.
4. Rather than faxing local statistics to local papers each month, we have included a link to a PDF file which can be downloaded from the Office of National Statistics website at: