Jobless rate drops to 25-year low

Scotland's unemployment rate has fallen to a 25-year low, official figures show.

The jobless rate dropped to 3.8% in the period March to May, compared to 4.5% in the previous three months.

The Scottish Government said the rate was the lowest it had been in a quarter-century.

Unemployment fell by 19,000 to 104,000 while the number of people in work increased by 25,000.

Over the same period, the UK unemployment rate fell by 0.2 percentage points to 4.5%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The number out of work across the UK stood at 1.49 million, 64,000 fewer than for the preceding three months.

Economy Secretary Keith Brown said: These latest figures show our labour market remains resilient and robust with unemployment now at a record low.

Our employment rate is also rising, which is good news, and means 25,000 more people are in employment compared to the last quarter.

When considered alongside the fact that last week's GDP stats show Scotland's growth rate over the last quarter to be four times that of the UK, this is further evidence of the strength of the Scottish economy.

It is also encouraging to see that we continue to perform strongly in female participation, with the female unemployment rate falling by one percentage point over the year, and youth unemployment, which has fallen from 14% since 2007 and now stands at 8.4%, and continues to be amongst the lowest of all EU countries.''

Opposition parties welcomed the falling unemployment rate but raised concerns about rising levels of economic inactivity.

Scottish Labour economy spokeswoman Jackie Baillie said: It is welcome to see some progress in the Scottish labour market but there is no room for complacency from this nationalist government.

Having a year-on-year increase of 40,000 people being economically inactive is deeply troubling.''

Scottish Conservative economy spokesman Dean Lockhart said: We cannot escape the fact that much of this fall in unemployment can be attributed to a rise in those who are now economically inactive.

Thousands more are in that position now in comparison to last year, and that in itself is an issue of concern for the economy.''

Scottish Liberal Democrat economy spokeswoman councillor Carolyn Caddick said: Scottish ministers need to guard against complacency and deliver the support they promised.

The SNP should not forget that the Scottish economy had a brush with recession at the start of the year.'