THE number of Scots out of work has fallen by 14,000, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), which also show Scotland’s unemployment rate was 3.9% – below that for the UK as a whole.
Data from June to August put the jobless total north of the Border at 106,000 – down from 120,000 in the previous quarter – with a jobless rate down from 4.3% in the previous three months to below the UK-wide rate of 4%.
Figures also showed the number of Scots between 16 and 64 in employment during the quarter was 2,551,000 (74.9%) – down from 2,570,000 (75.5%).
READ MORE: Scottish Government welcomes small drop in unemployment numbers
Derek Mackay, the Finance Secretary, said Scotland continued to outperform the UK as a whole. “Unemployment fell over the quarter and year and at 3.9%, Scotland’s unemployment rate is lower than the UK’s,” he said.
“There are now 132,000 fewer people unemployed in Scotland than the recession peak and we continue to outperform the UK on both employment and unemployment rates for women and young people.
“While these results show a decrease in employment, our employment rate has increased over the longer term and remains high by historical standards.
He continued: “We have 71,000 more people in employment compared with the pre-recession peak.
“Despite the ongoing risks posed by Brexit, our ambitious economic strategy will create the right environment for job growth.
“This includes commitments on the Scottish National Investment Bank and Manufacturing Institute and in this year’s Programme for Government we have committed to the biggest infrastructure spending Scotland has ever seen.”
Scottish Secretary David Mundell said: “It is welcome news that the number of people out of work and looking for a job in Scotland has fallen.”
The ONS also released figures showing that average earnings increased by 2.7% in the year to August, from 2.6% the previous month.
Earnings, including bonuses, grew by 3.1% compared with 2.9% in the previous period.
The number of people classed as economically inactive rose by 103,000 to 8.7 million after a similar rise in last month’s figures, a total that included 52,000 students.
David Freeman, the ONS’s head of labour market, said: “People’s regular monthly wage packets grew at their strongest rate in almost a decade, but, allowing for inflation, the growth was much more subdued.”
Howard Archer, chief economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club, an economic forecasting group, added: “The underlying trend in earnings growth is looking firmer suggesting that earnings growth is back on a modest upward track amid a tight labour market after suffering a relapse earlier this year. There is certainly survey evidence that labour market tightness is pushing up starting salaries, although the impact on the pay of people already in work has been less evident.”
The figures came as a OnePoll survey for the TotallyMoney website showed that 59% of overtime workers are not being compensated for the extra hours they put in – the equivalent of not being paid from October 16 through to the end of 2018.
Some 2000 workers took part in the poll where they were asked about the hours they worked. It found that unpaid overtime was a regular part of everyday working life for most.
The research calls into question whether businesses are treating employees fairly enough and if more should be done to compensate them, especially with Christmas approaching, when many could do with the additional money they have earned.
Employees in the UK put in an average of 10.1 hours overtime per week, totalling 469 hours of unpaid work per year for 59% of those doing overtime.
London workers came off worst, averaging 10.56 hours overtime each week, but those in Glasgow fared better, with 60% claiming they were paid for their extra hours.
More than half (53%) of those surveyed said their reason for doing overtime was “too much work”, with 61% of saying they did not have a good work/life balance and a further 15% saying they worked extra because of “pressure from senior figures”.
However, 1.4% of those polled claimed they did overtime “to avoid going home”.
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