Scottish unemployment rises again

Oct 17 2012

Scotland's unemployment total has risen again as the latest figures showed the number of people out of work increased to 222,000.

The jobless total, which includes people who are out of work and not eligible for benefits, increased by 7,000 over the quarter from June to August and is 10,000 more than it was at the same time last year.

That situation north of the border is in contrast with the UK as a whole, where unemployment fell by 50,000 over the same period to 2.53 million, the lowest since the spring.

The Scottish unemployment rate of 8.2% remains higher than the 7.9% rate for the UK as a whole.

It is the second month in a row unemployment in Scotland has increased, after a number of months when the jobless total had been falling.

The figures also showed that the number of Scots in work decreased slightly over the period from June to August.

The employment total dropped by 1,000 to 2,490,000 - although this is 16,000 higher than the same period last year.

Meanwhile the number of Scots who are out of work and claiming jobseeker's allowance fell by 1,300 from August, to stand at 139,900 in September.