12 Dec 2001
Claimant count unemployment in Scotland has risen by 1,300 over the month to November, and seasonally adjusted International Labour Organisation (ILO) unemployment has risen by 6,000 over the quarter to August to October 2001 according to the latest labour market statistics for Scotland published today.
Commenting on the figures, Scottish Secretary Helen Liddell said:
"Despite today’s slight increase the claimant count rate remains at 4.2 per cent, around the lowest for a quarter of a century. Three thousand more people are in jobs now than a year ago.
"In these times of international uncertainty we must not lose sight of the longer term and the underlying strengths within the Scottish labour market. There has been a rise of 3,000 in employment and a fall of 3,000 in ILO unemployment over the year to August-October 2001. The number of people out of work and claiming benefit has fallen by 5,400 over the year to November.
"This is a difficult time, not just for the Scottish economy. Yet the fundamentals remain strong. Scotland, like the rest of Britain, has a sound base from which to face challenging economic times.
"In his Pre-Budget Report the Chancellor re-asserted the Government’s commitment to tackle unemployment through help with return to work, Welfare to Work policies, and reforms to make work pay, all of which build upon education and training measures to help deliver the Government’s objective of employment opportunity for all.
"This strength is underpinned by the New Deal which has helped to reduce unemployment among young people, the long-term unemployed, lone parents and other disadvantaged groups. The Government is also testing new methods of helping people find work, through pilots of Employment Zones, JobCentre Plus and StepUP.
"This strategy has helped to deliver a substantial improvement in Scotland’s labour market with 3,000 more people in Scotland in employment than a year ago."
Latest Data
Claimant Count Unemployment
Claimant count unemployment in Scotland based on the seasonally adjusted number of people claiming benefit increased by 1,300 in November to 106,200 and fell by 5,400 over the year. The claimant count unemployment rate in November was 4.2 per cent.
Employment
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) indicates that the number of people in employment to August to October 2001 was 2,382,000, down 9,000 compared with the previous three months but up by 3,000 on the same period a year ago.
The employment rate amongst those of working age fell by 0.2 per cent on the previous three months, to 73.4 per cent and was up on the same period a year earlier.
International Labour Organisation (ILO) Unemployment
Seasonally adjusted ILO unemployment in Scotland increased by 6,000 over the quarter to August to October 2001to 170,000. The ILO unemployment rate also increased by 0.3 percentage point to 6.7 per cent. Compared with the equivalent period one year earlier, ILO unemployment fell by 3,000 with the rate also falling by 0.1 per cent.
NOTES FOR NEWS EDITORS
1. 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 claimant count unemployment in the New Deal age and duration groups are available from 1985.
2. 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.
3. 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 particularly subject to sampling variability and should be interpreted in the context of changes over several quarters.