Slight fall in Scotland's unemployment rate

Scotland's unemployment rate dropped slightly in the last quarter, according to the latest official figures.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said the rate between March and May for people aged 16 and over was 4.4% - a 0.2% drop on the previous quarter.

This was below the UK-wide rate of 4.8% for over-16s.

The employment rate for those aged 16-64 in Scotland was 74%, a decrease of 0.4 percentage points.

There were 2.532 million people aged 16 to 64 in employment in Scotland between March and May, while 118,000 in that age range were unemployed.

Scotland's Employment and Fair Work Minister Richard Lochhead said: "In March to May 2021, Scotland's employment rate estimate decreased over the quarter by 0.4 percentage points to 74% and the unemployment rate estimate decreased by 0.2 percentage points to 4.4%.

"Separate HMRC early estimates, also published this morning, show the number of payrolled employees has increased over the month by 27,000 to 2.4 million in June 2021, however this is 24,000 below levels seen before the coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.

"These latest figures reflect some of the challenges facing our labour market. However, as the Job Retention Scheme continues to support jobs, they do not show the full impact of the coronavirus pandemic."

Mr Lochhead added: "The Scottish government will continue to do all we can to support employees and employers, however it is crucial the UK government retain the furlough scheme for as long as it is needed.

"As we continue to move out of lockdown, we are pushing forward with an ambitious agenda of recovery and economic transformation that builds upon the £3.7bn in Scottish government support to business since the start of the pandemic.

"In 2021/22 we will invest more than £1bn to create jobs and ensure people have the skills needed to meet the economic opportunities of the future."

Ian Black, a product development pioneer manager in East Kilbride, says he was "struggling" to find work, after he graduated from university with a physics degree last year.

He signed on to Universal Credit because finding a job was "a lot more difficult than it usually would be due to the pandemic".

Eventually, Ian's work coach approached him with a position on a "kickstart scheme", part of Chancellor Rishi Sunak's £2bn initiative to create more jobs for young people.

He said: "A lot of people think when you graduate from university you'll be straight into this position that you want to do for the rest of your life.

"But I found myself applying to a lot of positions that I really didn't want to do but I had to have some sort of income."

Ian says applying to become a trainee IT pioneer at Angel Guard Ltd felt "much closer" to what he wanted to do than other roles he had applied for.

Managers at the business offered to create a different position for him instead, based on the skills and aims mentioned on his CV.

Ian says his employers have been "great" at allowing him to develop in areas that interest him.

Scottish Secretary Alister Jack said the drop in unemployment was "encouraging", but the country still faced "big challenges" to get the economy back on track.

He said: "From the very start of the pandemic, the UK government took decisive action to support lives and livelihoods right across the UK. We are continuing to support more than 173,000 Scottish jobs through our furlough scheme, which will run until the end of September.

"As the UK government-funded vaccine rollout allows all parts of the UK to further ease lockdown restrictions, our focus remains wholly on recovery. The UK government's Plan for Jobs is helping get people into work as we build back better from the pandemic."