Scotland bucks trend as unemployment falls

 

© The Herald Originally published: 14/8/2008

by William Tinning

Unemployment rates in Scotland have fallen again, bucking the trend in the rest of the UK where they have risen overall, official figures revealed yesterday.

The Office of National Statistics figures, which show unemployment in Scotland falling by 12,000 between April and June to 113,000 and by 9000 over the past year, were welcomed.

But they came amid grim economic news for the government with the overall UK unemployment figure jumping by 60,000 to 1.67 million in the three months to June and the head of the Bank of England refusing to rule out the possibility that the UK is facing recession.

Scotland's unemployment rate fell slightly by 0.4% over the quarter to 4.2% compared to a UK average of 5.4%.

The number of people who are claiming Jobseeker's allowance increased by 1500 last month to 75,000.

Scottish Secretary Des Browne said: 'Employment is up and unemployment is down, which bears witness to the effectivenss of the UK Government's macroeconomic policies. This is good news, but in the current economic climate there is no room for complacency.'