Scotland looms large in league table of job benefit blackspots

Published on Monday 18 July 2011 17:51

SOME of the biggest increases in the number of people claiming unemployment benefit in the UK have been in Scotland, according to a report by Bank of Scotland.

It analysed 129 areas of the UK to measure the rate of people claiming jobseeker's allowances.

Of the 20 areas which had the highest rise in claimants, seven were in Scotland - all seeing rises of at least 2.3 per cent since 2008.

The highest rise in Scotland - of 3 per cent - was in North Lanarkshire.

Elsewhere in the UK, only Hull and Belfast had higher increases, of a respective 3.5 per cent and 3.4 per cent.

Also in the bottom 20 were East Lothian and Midlothian; Clackmannanshire and Fife; East Ayrshire and North Ayrshire mainland; South Lanarkshire; Glasgow; and Falkirk.

However, the rising claimant count in North Lanarkshire contrasts with its strong economic performance over the ten years leading to 2008 - the year of the credit crunch - when it was one of the UK's fastest-growing economies.

The value of economic activity in North Lanarkshire rose from 9,152 per head in 1998 to 16,648 in 2008, a rise of 82 per cent, making it the fourth fastest-growing economy in the UK for that ten-year period.

The economic outlook was said to be better in the Highland area of Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey, which is counted with Moray. The area was the second-fastest growing economy in the UK in the decade to 2008, with a rate of 86 per cent, second only to Inner London East (87 per cent).

It has continued to perform relatively well over the past three years, with one of the lowest rises in claimant counts in the UK (1.1 per cent), the lowest in Scotland. Aberdeen also had a low rise in claimants (1.1 per cent).

Bank of Scotland economist Suren Thiru said: "It is encouraging that many of the areas with the biggest increases in economic activity across the UK over the decade to 2008 are in Scotland.

"Since 2008, all areas of Scotland, as in the rest of the UK, have been adversely affected by the economic downturn.

"Those living in parts of the country that are more dependent on production-based industries, such as manufacturing, have generally been hit hardest. Aberdeen is a clear exception."

In the North-east, production-based industries account for 24 per cent of total economic activity, greater than the share in North Lanarkshire (18 per cent).The bank said the significant contribution of the oil sector to the Aberdeen economy has helped to support economic activity.

Mr Thiru added: "Looking forward, the current strain on economic activity in many of the locations worst affected by the recession may ease somewhat over the next few years as the economy rebalances towards a greater reliance on investment and exports."

Finance secretary John Swinney said June was the third month in a row that the Scottish labour market had outperformed that of the UK as a whole.

But he added: "There can be absolutely no grounds for complacency. More needs to be done to support jobs, secure investment and boost economic activity across Scotland - and the report reinforces the need for a Plan B or flexibility from the UK government in order to strengthen growth and recovery."