Scottish Secretary Responds To Labour Market Stats For July 2024

19th July 2024

Ian Murray says government is wasting no time to deliver change for people across the UK.

Responding to the latest Labour Market Statistics published this morning Scottish Secretary Ian Murray said:

"These worrying figures reflect the economic situation this government has inherited, but we're wasting no time to deliver change for people across the UK.

“Just this week in the King’s Speech, the government outlined a raft of bills to unlock growth and deliver the biggest upgrade of workers’ rights in a generation.

“We want to create more jobs in Scotland - but crucially good jobs, with secure hours and fair pay. That’s why resetting the relationship between Scotland’s two governments, working together and delivering better outcomes for the people in Scotland, has been a priority for myself and the Prime Minister."

Scottish LMS

Scotland’s labour market performance has deteriorated on the quarter and is down from 12 months ago.

Scotland’s unemployment rate at 4.9% during March to May 2024 is a large increase compared to the December 2023 to February 2024 quarter, up 0.8 percentage points.

This compares to an increase of 0.2 p.p. for the UK overall, which stands at 4.4%, a lower rate than Scotland.

Scotland’s unemployment rate of 4.9% is up 1.6 p.p. or 45,000 over the year to stand at 133,000. The UK unemployment rate has also slightly weakened with an increase of 0.4 p.p. at 4.4% (+133,000).

Scotland’s employment rate at 72.9% is somewhat below the UK overall rate of 74.4%. * Over the last quarter, Scotland’s employment rate fell robustly by 1.3 p.p. or 20,000. * Also, employment level is 45,000 down compared to one year ago (-1.7 p.p.).

In comparison, the UK’s employment rate at 74.4% is down 0.1 p.p. on the quarter (-19,000) and down by 1.1 p.p. over the year (-312,000).

Scotland’s inactivity rate at 23.3% is somewhat above the UK’s overall rate of 22.1%.

This has seen an increase of 0.6 p.p. over the quarter (+21,000) and is up by +0.4 p.p. over the year (+12,000).

The Scottish Claimant Count for June 2024 increased on the month to 109,300, up 1,300 (1.2%). However, fell on the year by 0.9%, (-1,000).

However, estimates for payrolled employees in Scotland increased by 3,826 between April and May 2024, and rose by 14,955 between May 2023 and May 2024.