Labour market statistics March 2019
Scotland's unemployment is the lowest on record and the number of people in employment has also increased.
Latest show that Scotland鈥檚 unemployment rate is 3.4% which is the lowest on record and below that of the UK as a whole at 3.9%. Furthermore, the number of people employed in Scotland is close to the recent record high at 2,676,000. Although, Scotland鈥檚 employment rate, at 75.3%, remains below the UK鈥檚 rate at 76.1%.
In response to today鈥檚 [19 March 2019] labour market statistics figures Scottish Secretary David Mundell said:
鈥淚t is great news that employment continues to rise in Scotland.
鈥淪cotland鈥檚 two governments are working together to strengthen our economy and create jobs, with initiatives such as our growth deal programme beginning to reap rewards. In the last few weeks we have co-signed the 拢250 million Ayrshire growth deal and announced 拢345 million in joint government funding for the Borderlands.
鈥淭he UK Government鈥檚 investment in growth deals in Scotland is now more than 拢1.35 billion, and shows our huge commitment to growing Scotland鈥檚 job sector.鈥�
For the three months to January, Scotland鈥檚 overall labour market provides a mainly positive picture: employment increased robustly (+13,000); unemployment fell moderately (-9,000) and activity has increased slightly (+4,000). However, monthly claimant count numbers are worsening over the month of February, as there are 105,700 people in Scotland claiming Jobseeker鈥檚 Allowance and out-of-work Universal Credit (seasonally adjusted); this is up 6,600 on the month of January (provisional) and 18,900 up on the year before.