Unemployment in Scotland edged 0.3% higher to 4.1% in the three months to October while the UK rate fell 0.1% to 4.3%, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

The Scottish Government’s Minster for Employability and Training Jamie Hepburn said: “This month’s Labour Market Statistics show Scotland has a lower unemployment rate than the UK, and 89,000 more people in employment compared to the pre-recession peak.

“While these latest figures show that employment is up by 1.7 percentage points over the year, it is disappointing to see a slight fall in employment and a slight rise in unemployment over the last quarter.

“However, our overall unemployment rate remains lower than the UK’s and it is also encouraging to see youth unemployment rates continuing to outperform the rest of the UK.

“This comes on top of us fulfilling our commitment to reduce youth unemployment by 40%, four years ahead of schedule.

“It is also encouraging to see that female employment in Scotland continues to remain higher and unemployment lower, than the rest of the UK.

“The most recent Markit Report on Jobs for Scotland also indicate that in November Scotland experienced the highest rate of growth in permanent job appointments since October 2014, outperforming the UK as a whole.”

The Labour Market Statistics, released by ONS, show:

• Scotland’s employment rate decreased over the quarter to 74.9%, just below the UK rate of 75.1%
• 114,000 people were unemployed in Scotland — up 8,000 — with the unemployment rate at 4.1%, below the UK rate of 4.3%
• Over the quarter, inactivity rates increased by 0.7 percentage points to 21.8%, just above the UK rate of 21.5%
• Over the quarter, Scotland’s female employment rate remained the same at 72.3%, higher than the UK rate of 70.8%
• Over the year, youth unemployment decreased by 2.7 percentage points to 9.7%, lower than the UK at 13.0%