Estimates sourced from the UK’s Office for National Statistics (ONS) Labour Force Survey show the unemployment rate in Scotland was 4.7%, up 0.4 percentage points, over the February to April 2024 quarter, compared with the quarter before.

Scotland’s unemployment rate was above the UK rate of 4.4%.

The estimates indicate that over the quarter, the unemployment rate increased, the employment rate decreased and the inactivity rate increased.

The employment rate in Scotland — the proportion of people aged 16 to 64 in work — was 73.1%, down 1.3 percentage points over the quarter. Scotland’s employment rate was below the UK rate of 74.3%.

The economic inactivity rate in Scotland — the proportion of people aged 16 to 64 years who were not working and not seeking or available to work — was 23.2%, up 1.0 percentage point over the quarter. Scotland’s economic inactivity rate was above the UK rate of 22.3%.

Early estimates for May 2024 from HMRC indicated that there were 2.46 million payrolled employees in Scotland, a rise of 0.5% or 12,000 compared with May 2023.

This compares with the UK where the number of payrolled employees rose by 0.6% over the same period.

In May 2024, the claimant count in Scotland was 108,100, an increase of 3,000 or 2.9% over the month but a decrease of 2,400 or 2.2% over the year.

The claimant count unemployment rate in May 2024 was 3.7%, compared with 4.3% for the UK as a whole.