Scotland’s unemployment rate remained at a low level of 3.5% in the March to May 2022 quarter — below the UK rate of 3.8% — according to the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS).
“The estimated unemployment rate (16+) in Scotland was 3.5 per cent, down 0.2 percentage points since December 2019-February 2020 (pre-pandemic) but up 0.1 percentage points over the quarter …” said the ONS.
“The estimated employment rate (the proportion of people aged 16-64 in work) in Scotland was 75.4 per cent, up 0.1 percentage points since December 2019-February 2020 (pre-pandemic) and up 0.6 percentage points over the quarter.
“Scotland’s employment rate was below the UK rate of 75.9 per cent …
“The estimated economic inactivity rate (the proportion of people aged 16 to 64 years who were not working and not seeking or available to work) in Scotland was 21.8 per cent, up 0.1 percentage points since December 2019- February 2020 (pre-pandemic) but down 0.6 percentage points over the quarter. Scotland’s economic inactivity rate was above the UK rate of 21.1 per cent …
“Early seasonally adjusted estimates for June 2022 from HMRC Pay As You Earn Real Time Information indicate that there were 2.42 million payrolled employees in Scotland, an increase of 1.5 per cent (37,000) compared with February 2020 (pre-pandemic).
“This compares with the UK where the number of payrolled employees has increased by 1.9 per cent over the same period …
“Early seasonally adjusted estimates for June 2022 from HMRC Pay As You Earn Real Time Information indicate that median monthly pay for payrolled employees in Scotland was £2,126, an increase of 13.2 per cent compared with February 2020 (pre-pandemic).
“This is lower than the growth in median monthly pay for the UK over the same period (13.4 per cent) …”