Employment increase

29 Oct 2014 02:43 PM

Number of workless households drops by 38,000.

The number of workless households in Scotland has reduced by 38,000 over the last year, figures published yesterday revealed.

The Office of National Statistics figures count the number of households where no adults are working and show:

• The number of workless households in Scotland was 318,000, down 38,000 on the previous year - the second largest decrease in workless household level across all 12 regions and countries of the UK;
• The workless household rate in Scotland was 17.5 per cent, a decrease of 2.0 percentage points over the year. This compares to the UK rate of 15.9 per cent;
• The proportion of children in Scotland living in a workless household decreased by 0.5 percentage points - just under 1 in 8 children or 11.8 per cent. This compares to a higher rate across the UK at 12.7 per cent.

Finance Secretary John Swinney said:

“Today’s figures show that we are continuing to tackle unemployment and that the Scottish economy is growing. 

“We now have the highest jobs figures in history, the highest female employment in history, the lowest level of unemployment since the end of 2008, lower unemployment than the rest of the UK and higher employment and lower inactivity. 

“However, we need to continue to build on this and our task is to make sure that everyone is able to benefit from our economic success. That means everyone who wants it should have access to the employment and training they need to get on in life. 

“That is why we have already set out key measures – including £16 million of additional investment in tackling youth employment and £4.5 billion of investment in infrastructure - that will secure continued growth and further improvements in employment.”

Notes To Editors

The stats are avialable here: http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/lmac/working-and-workless-households/2014/index.html