Scotland Office
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The latest Labour Market Statistics for Scotland have been published this morninghere and cover the period September to November 2024, compared with the quarter before (June to August 2024).
Scotlands unemployment rate was 3.8 per cent, down 0.2 percentage points over the quarter. Scotlands unemployment rate was below the UK rate of 4.4 per cent.
Secretary of State for Scotland Ian Murray said:
Our Plan for Change is creating jobs and opportunities to ensure that everyone across the UK has access to well-paid work. Thats how we will make lasting improvements in our decade of renewal and growth.
Were already making great strides introducing huge advances in workers rights and our National Living Wage boost will see an increase of 1,400 a year from April for hundreds of thousands of full-time workers in Scotland.
Were continuing to work closely with the Scottish Government to address Scotlands inactivity rate through our plan to Get Britain Working. As part of this, Jobcentres across the UK are going through their biggest overhaul in a generation so that those looking for work get the help they really need.
By encouraging investment to deliver growth, we will put more money in peoples pockets and raise living standards right across the UK.
Summary:
- Estimates for September to November 2024 show that the unemployment rate (16 and over) in Scotland was 3.8 per cent, down 0.2 percentage points over the quarter. Scotlands unemployment rate was below the UK rate of 4.4 per cent.
- The estimated employment rate for the same period (the proportion of people aged 16 to 64 in work) in Scotland was 74.1 per cent, up 1.0 percentage points from the previous quarter. Scotlands employment rate was below the UK rate of 74.8 per cent.
- The estimated economic inactivity rate (the proportion of people aged 16 to 64 years who were not working and not seeking or available to work) in Scotland was 22.9 per cent, down 0.8 percentage point over the quarter. Scotlands economic inactivity rate was above the UK rate of 21.6 per cent.
- The latest early payrolled employee estimates for December 2024 indicate that there were 2.45 million payrolled employees in Scotland. Compared with the same time last year, the number of payrolled employees was down by 11,000 (-0.5 per cent). This compares with a largely unchanged number of payrolled employees for the UK over the sa