Issued by: Scotland Office

The unemployment rate in Scotland is 3.3 per cent

The latest Labour Market Statistics for Scotland are published today (https://shorturl.at/NsQOJ) and show figures for July to September 2024, compared with the quarter before (April to June 2024).

The unemployment rate in Scotland was 3.3 per cent, down 1.1 percentage points over the quarter. Scotland’s unemployment rate was below the UK rate of 4.3 per cent.

The employment rate in Scotland was 73.7 per cent, up 0.3 percentage points over the quarter. Scotland’s employment rate was below the UK rate of 74.8 per cent.

Commenting on the figures, Secretary of State for Scotland Ian Murray, said:

“Getting people into work is key to delivering economic growth and our Get Britain Working White Paper will tackle inactivity in the labour market head on through measures including an overhaul of our Jobcentres.

“We’re making work pay by increasing the National Living Wage in April - delivering a pay rise of £1,400 a year for hundreds of thousands of full-time workers in Scotland.

“We’re also banning exploitative zero-hour contracts as part of the biggest upgrade to workers’ rights in a generation through our Employment Rights Bill to deliver better job security for those in work.”

Background:

• The UK Government is championing the biggest improvements to workers’ rights in a generation (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-unveils-most-significant-reforms-to-employment-rights).

• More information on the Plan to Get Britain Working is available here: Back to Work Plan will help drive economic growth in every region - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/back-to-work-plan-will-help-drive-economic-growth-in-every-region).

• A new Labour Market Advisory Board has been announced, chaired by Professor Paul Gregg. It is a new group of external experts who will provide labour market insight and advice to drive change throughout the system.

• ONS Labour Force Survey estimates published today (12 November 2024) show figures for [to come when figs published 0730]

Summary:

• The unemployment rate in Scotland was 3.3 per cent, down 1.1 percentage points over the quarter. Scotland’s unemployment rate was below the UK rate of 4.3 per cent.

• The employment rate in Scotland was 73.7 per cent, up 0.3 percentage points over the quarter. Scotland’s employment rate was below the UK rate of 74.8 per cent.

• The economic inactivity rate in Scotland was 23.7 per cent, up 0.6 percentage points over the quarter. Scotland’s economic inactivity rate was above the UK rate of 21.8 per cent

• Wage growth UK-wide: Annual growth in employees’ average regular earnings (excluding bonuses) was 4.8%; growth was previously lower than this in April to June 2022, when it was 4.7%. Annual growth in real terms, adjusted for inflation using the Consumer Prices Index including owner occupiers’ housing costs (CPIH), was 1.9% for regular pay and 1.4% for total pay.

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