UNEMPLOYMENT in Scotland has risen in the last quarter, new figures show.
New data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that the unemployment rates for people aged 16 and over was 3.8% between October and December last year, below the UK wide rate of 4.4%.
There were 104,000 people aged 16 and over out of work in Scotland between October and December last year, according to the figures.
The rate of people classed as economically inactive in Scotland was 22.8% in the past quarter, down 1.2% on the previous quarter.
HMRC early estimates indicate there were 2.46 million pay rolled employees in Scotland for January 2025, up 5000 on the previous month but down 2000 on January 2024.
Reacting to the ONS report, Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said: “These figures indicate that Scotland’s labour market is proving resilient despite a challenging economic environment.
“It’s encouraging to see pay rolled employment remains close to record levels and Scotland has higher median monthly pay than the UK.”
Savings Specialist for Scottish Friendly, Kevin Brown, said about the Monetary Policy Committee that the figures prove troublesome for The Bank of England: “Employment data was largely in line with expectations in January. This will be tentative good news for policymakers, but it remains a headache.
“It suggests inflationary pressures remain strong, and it may take a March rate cut off the table.”
He continued: “Overall, UK employees are still seeing inflation-busting pay rises, but this masks some competing forces underneath. On the one hand, bumper pay settlements for public sector workers continue to support the figures, but there is weakness emerging in the private sector.
“Although the Government’s National Insurance rise doesn’t come into force until April, there are signs that companies are already cutting back on staff and pay rises. The next few months will likely see a tussle between these competing forces.”
