Unemployment Rate Increases

More Scots joined the dole queue between March and May, according to the Office for National Statistics.

13, 000 more Scots have joined the dole queue.

Figures show 192, 000 people were out of work in the three months to May.

The Office for National Statistics says the Scottish unemployment rate is currently sitting at 6.9%, that's 0.4% above the UK rate.

The Secretary of State for Scotland Alistair Carmichael said: 

"We have seen positive developments over the year as a whole with 76,000 more Scots in employment and 13, 000 fewer in unemployment. In June alone, the number of people claiming JSA fell by 4,000 and is now 35,500 lower compared to one year ago. Claimant count is now below 100,000 and at its lowest level since December 2008.

"Today's news reminds us we need to continue creating the right conditions to get people into jobs. While it is disappointing to see unemployment rise at any time, the news comes against a backdrop of record overall employment, female employment and record private sector employment. The number of economically active people in Scotland is rising and the number of Scots claiming unemployment has now fallen for 20 consecutive months.  

"This Government is making the right choices for a stable, growing economy and the jobs that come with it, those are the best choices for Scotland and the people who live here"

Cabinet Secretary for Training, Youth and Women's Employment Angela Constance said:

"While today's figures show growth in Scotland's economy, our ambition is to do better than to simply return to pre-recession levels of economic performance.

"It is encouraging that female employment continues to increase markedly with a higher employment rate than the rest of the UK.

"Although we continue to do better than the UK in terms of employment rates amongst young people and 90% of school leavers are in positive destinations, our youth unemployment rate remains too high.

"This is why we support the principle outlined in the report last month by the Commission for Developing Scotland's Young Workforce, that links between schools, colleges and employers can be strengthened, to be more aligned to student and business needs."