14 Jan 2004
Unemployment down - claimant count at 28-year low
The latest labour market statistics for Scotland show that unemployment has fallen over the quarter and since the same period a year ago.
Commenting on the figures, Scottish Secretary Alistair Darling said:
"Prospects for the Scottish economy are good, this is confirmed by a fall in unemployment and supported by encouraging recent survey and forecast evidence.
"Furthermore, the claimant count is now at its lowest since September 1975. Since Spring 1997 the number of people out of work and claiming benefit has fallen by 60,800 to 98,200. This is proof positive that the policies of the Government and the Scottish Government are working well for Scotland."
Unemployment in Scotland fell by 1,000 compared with the previous quarter, and fell by 11,000 over the year to the quarter September-November to 147,000. The unemployment rate is now 5.8 per cent, down by 0.5 percentage points over the year and unchanged over the quarter.
The claimant count fell by 600 in December and has declined by 1,500 over the year, to 98,200. The claimant count rate was again unchanged over the month at 3.7 per cent and was down 0.1 per cent over the year.
Employment fell by 6,000 over the quarter to 2,393,000, possibly the lagged effect of difficulties facing Scottish businesses in the first half of 2003. The employment rate is 74.1 per cent. But there are now 129,000 more Scots in employment compared with the same period a year ago.
Latest Datafor Scotland
Unemployment
Unemployment in Scotland fell by 1,000 to 147,000 in September -November 2003 compared with the previous three months. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 5.8 per cent. Compared with the equivalent period one year earlier, unemployment fell by 11,000 - a decrease of 0.5 per cent.
The Claimant Count
The claimant count in Scotland, based on the seasonally adjusted number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance, fell by 600 in December to 98,200 and has fallen by 1,500 over the year. The claimant count rate in December was unchanged over the month at 3.7 per cent, down 0.1 per cent over the year.
Employment
The Labour Force Survey (LFS) indicates that the number of people in employment in September-November 2003 was 2,393,000, down by 6,000 compared with the previous three months but up by 29,000 on the same period in 2002. The employment rate amongst those of working age fell by 0.3 per cent on the previous three months, to 74.1 per cent, but was up by 0.3 per cent 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 t local papers each month, we have included a link to a PDF file which can be downloaded from the Office of National Statistics website.
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/lmsscot0104.pdf Anyone unable to access the data in this way can phone the number at the end of the news release and have the pages faxed.